Satellite View Of Fog Forming Over The Great Lakes

January 6, 2014 - Satellite view of fog forming over the Great Lakes and streaming southeast with the wind. A swirling mass of Arctic air moved south into the continental United States in early January. The air mass began breaking off from the polar vortex, a semi-permanent low-pressure system with a center around Canada...s Baffin Island. The frigid air was pushed south into the Great Lakes region by the jet stream, bringing abnormally cold temperatures to many parts of Canada and the central and eastern United States...When the cold air passed over the relatively warm waters of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior, the contrast in temperatures created a visual spectacle. As cold, dry air moved over the lakes, it mixed with warmer, moister air rising off the lake surfaces, transforming the water vapor into fog, a phenomenon known as steam fog.