Mist

For other uses, see Mist (disambiguation).

Mist is a phenomenon caused by small droplets of water suspended in air. It can occur as part of natural weather or volcanic activity, and is common in cold air above warmer water, in exhaled air in the cold, and in a steam room of a sauna. It can also be created artificially with aerosol canisters if the humidity conditions are right.

The only difference between mist and fog is visibility. This phenomenon is called fog if the visibility is one kilometre (1,100 yards) or less (in the UK for driving purposes the definition of fog is visibility less than 200 metres, for pilots the distance is 1 kilometre). Otherwise it is known as mist. Seen from a distance, mist is bluish, and haze is more brownish.

Religious connotations are associated with mist in some cultures; it is used as a metaphor in 2 Peter 2:17.

Mist makes a light beam of light visible from the side via refraction and reflection on the suspended water droplets.

"Scotch mist" is a light steady drizzle, the name being typical of the Scottish penchant for understatement (and of Scottish weather).

Mist usually occurs near the shores, and is often associated with fog. Mist can be as high as mountain tops when extreme temperatures are low.

Freezing mist

Freezing mist is similar to freezing fog, only the density is less and the visibility greater. When mist falls below 0 degrees Celsius in temperature it becomes known as freezing mist.

• 
  Sunlight filters through a thin layer of fog on a crisp winter morning in Albuquerque, New Mexico
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  Misty morning at Moralberg
• 
  Misty morning at Swifts Creek

See also

• Aeroponics
• Brocken spectre
• Drizzle
• Fog
• Haze
• Spray (disambiguation)