Last February a winter heat wave hit Jacksonville sending the temperature to 88 degrees for a couple of days in a row. The warm-up brought days of dense sea fog that smothered the area.
The end of this week won’t get as hot but we could see a similar setup resulting in a Hot Spell Fog.
North Florida is the foggiest part of the state averaging 30-45 days per year and the colder months can bring in a type of fog found on the U.S. west coast called a Hot Spell Fog.
READ: Latest weather news from The Weather Authority team
This type of fog, also known as advection fog, is formed when the cool ocean surface chills the atmosphere above it.
Humid warm air moving up over cold air or water chills the air so moisture condenses and forms a cloud at the surface.
This sea fog is favored when the air is about 9-10 degrees warmer than the sea surface.
Late this week highs will reach the upper 70s to near 80 while the surf temperatures along Duval beaches are as chilly as California in the low to mid-50s.
This is a perfect recipe for a Hot Spell Fog.
You can expect it to increase on Thursday and Friday as the humidity and temps rise.
Typically the fog is greatest during the early- to mid-morning hours with a minimum during the late afternoon.
Sea fog at coast the coast can spread inland with onshore flow which can pick up from a sea breeze if inland areas become very warm.
This pattern can last for days until cold air mixes the atmosphere and depletes fog or stratus.