Eerie fog shrouds Moscow landmarks, cancels hundreds of flights
Halloween may be in the rearview mirror, but a ghostly scene unfolded in Russia as thick fog covered the city, causing some of the worst disruptions to air travel in a decade.
By
Adam Douty, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published Nov 2, 2021 12:00 PM EST
|
Updated Nov 4, 2021 5:24 AM EST
Thick fog blanketed Moscow from late Monday into Wednesday morning, causing hundreds of flights to be canceled in one of the biggest travel disruptions to impact the Russian capital in a decade.
More than 200 flights were canceled or delayed at Moscow’s major airports on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg. The delays appeared to be the most since an ice storm blanketed the city in December 2010, although no statistics on disruptions are available, said a spokeswoman for Russia's federal air transport agency Rosaviatsia.
On Wednesday, the return of fog led to another 60 flight cancellations or delays.
Visibility was quickly reduced Monday evening when the fog first settled across the city. Observations from across the city showed that the visibility fell to near zero for as much as 14 consecutive hours. At several locations, temperatures fell below freezing overnight, which may have also led to ice forming on some surfaces.
City landmarks such as St. Basil's Cathedral were almost ghostly in appearance as the dense fog engulfed Moscow's famous Red Square.
“An area of high pressure across the region produced a setup favorable for fog to develop,” said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Tyler Roys. “This included a clear sky and light winds which allowed for the temperature to fall to the dew point.”
When the temperatures fall to the dew point, fog can form as moisture in the air condenses into small water droplets that are suspended in the air.
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When conditions allow, fog can become very dense and reduce the visibility to a few hundred feet, or even less in some situations.
While the fog cleared a little during the afternoon on Tuesday, it became dense once again Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning. While not as dense as on Tuesday, it still led to delays across the city.
Fog cloaks the city of Moscow in this time-lapse on Nov. 2, 2021 (Earthcam)
By late on Wednesday morning, the fog had lifted and visibility improved, though a layer of clouds remained just a few hundred feet above the ground.
Fog is fairly typical across western Russia during the fall and winter months, though it is rare to see fog this dense to last for this long, according to Roys.
For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform.
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News / Weather News
Eerie fog shrouds Moscow landmarks, cancels hundreds of flights
Halloween may be in the rearview mirror, but a ghostly scene unfolded in Russia as thick fog covered the city, causing some of the worst disruptions to air travel in a decade.
By Adam Douty, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published Nov 2, 2021 12:00 PM EST | Updated Nov 4, 2021 5:24 AM EST
Thick fog blanketed Moscow from late Monday into Wednesday morning, causing hundreds of flights to be canceled in one of the biggest travel disruptions to impact the Russian capital in a decade.
More than 200 flights were canceled or delayed at Moscow’s major airports on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg. The delays appeared to be the most since an ice storm blanketed the city in December 2010, although no statistics on disruptions are available, said a spokeswoman for Russia's federal air transport agency Rosaviatsia.
On Wednesday, the return of fog led to another 60 flight cancellations or delays.
Visibility was quickly reduced Monday evening when the fog first settled across the city. Observations from across the city showed that the visibility fell to near zero for as much as 14 consecutive hours. At several locations, temperatures fell below freezing overnight, which may have also led to ice forming on some surfaces.
City landmarks such as St. Basil's Cathedral were almost ghostly in appearance as the dense fog engulfed Moscow's famous Red Square.
“An area of high pressure across the region produced a setup favorable for fog to develop,” said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Tyler Roys. “This included a clear sky and light winds which allowed for the temperature to fall to the dew point.”
When the temperatures fall to the dew point, fog can form as moisture in the air condenses into small water droplets that are suspended in the air.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
When conditions allow, fog can become very dense and reduce the visibility to a few hundred feet, or even less in some situations.
While the fog cleared a little during the afternoon on Tuesday, it became dense once again Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning. While not as dense as on Tuesday, it still led to delays across the city.
Fog cloaks the city of Moscow in this time-lapse on Nov. 2, 2021 (Earthcam)
By late on Wednesday morning, the fog had lifted and visibility improved, though a layer of clouds remained just a few hundred feet above the ground.
Fog is fairly typical across western Russia during the fall and winter months, though it is rare to see fog this dense to last for this long, according to Roys.
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For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform.
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