The most prevalent form of fog in Canada through the fall and winter months is radiation fog, which covered much of the southwest this morning. 

Samantha Mauti, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada reports some reductions in visibility due to fog and mist in Southwestern Saskatchewan. 

“Generally, you would expect to see that after the sun goes down," stated Mauti. “You need a little bit of moisture in the air. As the temperature is decreasing, it's getting closer to the dew point temperature. Your moisture levels are a little bit higher, and it allows this fog to develop.” 

The dew point refers to the temperature air must reach for it to become completely saturated with water. This is caused by the air cooling off to the right temperature, or by increasing the amount of moisture in the air. Once that point is reached, the water vapour becomes a visible fog. 

“What's common with radiation fog is that when the sun comes up, it usually burns off,” explained Mauti. “Sometimes it will raise into a cloud. What happened with Swift Current today is you started getting some higher-level clouds come over this morning, so that generally protects the sun from burning off some of the fog areas. It may have had that fog stick around a little bit longer than if it were clear.” 

Mauti also stated that this area can expect much more of this interesting moisture within the next couple of months.

In response to Canada's Online News Act and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) removing access to local news from their platforms, Swift Current Online encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the Swift Current Online app.