For the past few days, there has been a long wall of fog seemingly hovering in the air next to the lake, despite it being warm and sunny. As far as I can tell, it was as far north as Lakeview and as far south as Cellular Field.
Lot of people talking about it on the internet right now and plenty of pictures.
http://jpgmag.com/photos/3016356
I just moved here, and I’ve never lived right next to water before. IS this a normal occurrence?
We had that same fog in Milwaukee yesterday. It was only in very specific spots and very dark. Before I realized it was fog, I just assumed there was a big fire or an explosion in our downtown area.
It’s been common since the 1980s. I don’t recall it much prior to then, although I’ve lived within a couple miles of the lake since the early 70s. I believe it’s caused by easterly winds carrying moist air over the chilly lake in the spring; the moisture condenses and is carried inland as fog. Although “cooler near the lake” and sudden, sharp springtime temp drops have been a feature of the local climate since time immemorial and were evident in the 70s, I don’t remember fog occurring as often then. It’s possible that’s because in those days I didn’t drive on Lake Shore Drive or go downtown as much, where the fog is especially evident.
Rapture.
It’s marine fog just like San Francisco gets. When inland air temperatures go much higher than the temperature of the water, fog forms and is pulled inland by convection. It’s quite common in May and June in Chicago. At this time of year, we also sometimes get easterly winds, which make it even more intense.
It also smells fishier than normal a block from the lake, for a couple of days now.
While less common, it can even happen in the winter, as it did in the “Fog Bowl”, the playoff game at Soldier Field on New Year’s Eve, 1988.