In a rare sight, several people witnessed ‘sea smoke’ at a time when record cold temperatures gripped western Washington in the United States recently.
Although it may have looked like that the water is on fire, it’s the chilly weather that has been causing the phenomenon.
During the winter, the waters of Puget Sound usually remain mild. The sea surface temperatures stay in the low-mid 50s.
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It also keeps the air, which is just above the water, relatively warm as well. But as temperature drops around the region, the warmer air quickly gets cooled up and condensed into wisps of fog.
Around the shorelines, when the winds blow as gusts from 20 mph to 40 mph, it looks as if the smoke is blowing across the water.
It is formally known as steam fog but also goes by arctic sea smoke, where it is most common or just sea smoke.
Earlier, visitors to Lake Manitoba in Canada also witnessed a rare phenomenon, which is only seen every few years around the world.
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The weather conditions seem to have become conducive for the formation of thousands of slush balls along the shore of the massive lake.
According to the experts, this phenomenon can be witnessed when air temperatures are below freezing point and there are onshore winds and waves to ensure the waterway does not become a solid sheet of ice.
(With inputs from agencies)
