A friend of mine in Biloxi, MS told me that on Friday,December 21st, at approx 2 to 3 p.m., on highway 90, she experienced driving through fog that she says was almost black like smoke,however there was no smell of smoke or anything on fire,even the sky appeared to have a dark color to it. Is it possible that fog can have different colors?

MIKE MOSS SAYS:         Michael,      Fog can take on some colors if there are significant pollutants in the air that act as condensation nuclei for the fog droplets, or can appear to take on hues of blue, yellow or red depending on the angle of sunlight or scattered skylight illuminating the fog. I'm kind of stumped at how fog would appear almost black in mid-afternoon, though, on a day when nearby weather reporting sites at Biloxi and Gulfport showed clear skies or scattered clouds and unrestricted visibility in the afternoon - both stations had dense fog several hours earlier, but it had been gone for awhile by 2-3 pm. Unless there was some kind of emission from an industrial source or fire that blackened the fog (which semingly would have produced an odor that would identify it as such), it's difficult to explain her observation.

Fog could also appear quite a dark gray if it forms and then some clouds move over top of it at higher altitudes and block the sun, but that wouldn't seem to be the case in this instance. If you ever hear anything back from her that clears up the mystery, let me know!