For the last few years I can remember it being foggy the day after all the fires and fireworks have been going and here we are again, November 6th and its a pea souper out there (in Bristol anyway) so I was wondering if there is a scientific explanation for this or is it just coincidence?
Also, why dont tunnels get foggy? Coming into work today there was very limited visability, but going through the tunnel under the Avon Gorge absolutely clear. Why?
2006-11-05 19:44:27 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Weather
Erm, fires produce smoke, November is a cold damp month, smoke vapour mixes with water in the air and can be seen producing fog, as for why tunnels don't get foggy, any long tunnel either is built with natural ventilation or with artificial ventilation (i.e. fans) otherwise they would fog up with exhaust fumes.
2006-11-05 19:50:10 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
If the conditions are right then particles from fireworks will enhance the potential for fog to form....here's an explanation as to how...
Last night, all the fireworks produced small particles which remained in the air near over the UK overnight. There was smoke last night, but this isn't really fog in itself, more a collection of (larger) soot particles. But as warm(er), moist, sea air moved in from the west, it cooled over the land and as air cools it can no longer hold as much water vapour, so liquid water condensed onto all available surfaces, of which particles were in abundance, hence forming cloud at low level (fog).
A higher temperature inside the tunnel is the most probable reason for the tunnel question - warmer temp enables the air inside the tunnel to retain more water vapour, and so the water evaporates from the surface of the particles leaving the visibility clear. As the air leaves the tunnel at the end, it cools again and produces more fog.
So you still need the main ingredients of fog - moist air reaching cooler land, particles and low wind speed. Particles from fireworks will contribute but to exactly what extent would require some measurements and maths. In my opinion it is likely that you would have had some fog anyway butit has been made thicker and longer lasting by the extra particles.
In the north it has been windy all night, and so the particles have all been blown away...so it is very clear and crisp.
2006-11-05 23:45:22 · answer #2 · answered by Rickolish 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Can you make no connect between all the smoke from the fireworks and the bonfires all lingering if there's no wind overnight? - THAT'S the usual explanation - but see below.
Unless there's nothing to blow all the smoky air INTO the tunnels, how else do you expect it to get there?
BY THE WAY: All that stuff in the air the next morning is due to the SALT-PETRE hanging about in the air. It used to be used by Alchemists to give that weird 'ghostly' effect they needed to convince people of their magic and is of course, a main ingredient in fireworks.
2006-11-05 20:26:02 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Couldn't tell you about any link between bonfires and fog (although I suspect the season has a lot to do with it) but the reason you don't get fog in tunnels is that fog is merely low-lying cloud - the cloud may drop either side of a tunnel, but unless there was a vacuum pulling it in, would not go inside, save for a little vapour seeping around the entrances.
2006-11-05 19:49:19 · answer #4 · answered by f0xymoron 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Probably to do with smog. Years ago it was called peasouper and basically itsenviromantal damage caused by fireworks, much the same way a car exhaust damages the environment. Probably the reason why it doesn't enter tunnels is the temperature is maybe a bit warmer inside.
2006-11-05 19:53:48 · answer #5 · answered by hantonbob 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is rather foggy in Bristol today! It was a night mare drive into work (50 mph max on M4!). I think its just the right time of year for fog to be honest.
2006-11-05 19:54:28 · answer #6 · answered by ehc11 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it's 'smog', that is a fog created by smoke and dampness.
Years ago, when most homes and industries had coal fires, smog was a threat to life for people with breathing conditions such as asthma. Smokeless fuel help to eradicate this.
2006-11-05 19:58:36 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i heard that the smoke from the firworks and the cold air forms a fog like mist dont know if this is true or not.
2006-11-05 21:38:26 · answer #8 · answered by pinkdragon 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it has to be connected with bonfires and fireworks but how i've no idea
2006-11-05 19:54:59 · answer #9 · answered by srracvuee 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
err the smoke
2006-11-05 19:49:45 · answer #10 · answered by neil h 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋