photography in the mist - any useful apps/tools for fog/mist forecasting

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Mo.Hassan

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Mo.Hassan
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Hello friends
Does any one know if there is a met office like app/website to forecast mist and fog by location and time. If you guys know of any app please could you share your experience, I have been waking up really early in the morning to shoot photos in the fog only to get no fog/mist happening. I am tired of getting up 5 o'clock every morning so I want to know if there is a good app/website with a good, close to accurate forecast.
PS. I do not know how to read Weather maps. Should I be looking for the visibility to know wether there is a good chance of seeing fog.
thanks
 
Clear Outside is a fairly good app which does forecast fog, but i'm not sure you'll get anything to forecast 'mist', to be honest. Mist usually forms on cold mornings after relatively warm nights (especially over or near water).
 
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I would look at aviation weather reports. I'm in the US, but I expect it's basically the same everywhere. There are area forecasts and point (airport) forecasts with long term and short term forecasts. They specify mist, haze, fog, etc... but you might need a key for all of the abbreviations.
 
sk66 said:
I would look at aviation weather reports. I'm in the US, but I expect it's basically the same everywhere. There are area forecasts and point (airport) forecasts with long term and short term forecasts. They specify mist, haze, fog, etc... but you might need a key for all of the abbreviations.
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In the UK the area forecasts are not location specific enough and the airport forecasts (TAFs) are only useful if you want to shoot next to an airport that actually has a TAF - in parts of the UK there aren't that many, and most don't do long term forecasts. Besides which you have to register to get access and state your reason (and be able to decode them and if the OP can't read a weather map..........)

Mo.Hassan said:
PS. I do not know how to read Weather maps. Should I be looking for the visibility to know wether there is a good chance of seeing fog.
thanks
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Are you using the Met Office site on the default which has the visibility as VG, G etc? If you go into the settings you can change that to kilometres, which should be more useful. Just for info, if the visibility is less than 1 km you've got fog, over 1 km it's mist. Also be looking at temperature and wind speed. Mist/fog often forms before dawn when the temperature dips. The air needs to be moist, so a damp day followed by a clearing night and a temperature dip pre dawn is promising, but you also need no more than a very gentle breeze, the stiller the better. Any wind will lift fog into low cloud. Mist forms more readily over water than fog forms over land, and is better for photographs, but is harder to forecast as it tends to be very localised. Local knowledge helps - keep going to the same place if it looks promising and even if you don't get the conditions you want you'll learn the signs to look for when it does work out.
 
Nothing will ever tell you exactly but I’d be aiming for the following for a good chance of mist:

- Clear the night before
- Low wind and gust
- Relatively high humidity level
- Get close to water
 
@Jannyfox answer is very helpful, Indeed I configured the met office page to display visibility in km and that works. So I will use the app as a guide. As for the mist, I will head early at sunrise to a nearby lake, I pray I find some mist and perhaps flying Geese to make it two winning photos.

@FlyPhot, @TGphoto and @sk66 I shall try the suggested app and compare with met office app data for accuracy. Thank you all
 
Not too sure where you are but if you have a look at XCWeather and click on the Visibility tab you may find it useful. As said mist is very difficult to predict and can be very local based on the terrain and nearby features. The Dew Point temperature is quite important as it's relationship with the air temperature will be a good guide to the likelihood of mist or fog.
 
Some locations are particularly prone to the formation of valley fog so it would be worthwhile getting to know your local area well in order to predict this.

Jannyfox's response covers most of the relevant information, I think. Couldn't have put it better myself!

In general terms rain the previous evening/overnight followed by a clearance before dawn is what i would be looking for. The nights need to be relatively long to give fog time to form. That's why it happens rarely in summer.
 
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Just a few years ago you could check the BBC Weather app or website and it would quite accurately forecast mist - in the last few years and especially since switching to MeteoGroup their accuracy has fallen off a cliff and also the Met Office are very poor. ClearOutside uses MeteoGroup data but it is a bit more accurate than the BBC app, but in my experience all apps and websites are poor now, I don't know why that would be and I've tried all kinds of very well regarded ones. All you can do is look out for clear, cool and calm nights especially after a rainy day - look on Met Office etc for predicted humidity and if it's over 90% with low winds, and a temperature on or below the dew point you stand a chance. Some places are prone to it - look for bowl shapes in the landscape and places with water. This hasn't been a very misty year at all, I look back at 2015, '16 and '17 and can't believe how many misty mornings I had compared to the last two.
 
As said a few times above, local, or location, knowledge helps more than anything else. Plenty of places are prone to fog and mist, it just a case of finding ones local and keeping an eye on conditions as given above. You’ll soon learn what to look for.

Just to add another idea, webcams can be of help. I’ve a couple of places local to me that are good spots for mist and I’ve found a couple of nearby webcams so I can see if any fog forms. Even if I’m not able to get out with the camera, I can note the conditions - temp, humidity, wind speed etc - for future reference.
 
Another factor is availability - it’s always misty when you can’t get out!

I checked the forecast last night and it predicted rain all day so took the opportunity to order a new fridge for delivery...well typically I woke up to the thickest fog I’ve seen for months and couldn’t get out...the woodlands would’ve been lovely :banghead:
 
@JasonPC webcam good idea, why not always use technology when you can.
@Scirocco_09, I am still chasing that illusive fog, once I saw a similar scene to Ansel Adams
https://www.google.com/search?safe=.........33i160.ehc5rMOzpR4#imgrc=qWMCLNwoTT87WM:
Moon over hernandez without the moon though, while driving, Did not have the camera with, I regret it so much, I make sure I pass every morning by the area near Harrogate armed with my camera, but no luck. That triggered me to post the question.
PS. I still check everyday, not giving up
 
TGphoto said:
Nothing will ever tell you exactly but I’d be aiming for the following for a good chance of mist:

- Clear the night before
- Low wind and gust
- Relatively high humidity level
- Get close to water
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I think you can add dew point to this list. If the dew point and air temp are the same or within 1C and humidity in the 90’s that what I look for. Basically tomorrow morning in Exeter (except for the cloud cover).

5FBF254C-C17D-4F24-B281-88C788ADE0ED.jpeg
 
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And after you find your mist, and get enveloped in it, you might need a bit of exposure compensation ....
 
I use Ventusky,either on my phone or PC. I think it costs £2 per year,but it's very accurate.
 
Hi all, we had a very misty day today, used the met app to confirm that today was a misty day, bbc weather app said the same last night, few minutes before midnight. Indeed @droj I found the mist embrassed it and over-exposed my shots. :giggle:
 
Mo.Hassan said:
Hi all, we had a very misty day today, used the met app to confirm that today was a misty day, bbc weather app said the same last night, few minutes before midnight. Indeed @droj I found the mist embrassed it and over-exposed my shots. :giggle:
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Hope you got some good pictures!
 
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