Hong Kong is a stunning city with world famous skyline surrounded by mountains and water.  This is the perfect recipe for fog when the weather suddenly changes.  Typically this happens in the spring time and one or two times a year one gets some simply stunning views of Hong Kong in the clouds.  Not to be confused with haze or low clouds that can happen much more during the Autumn and winter months.

Fog can happen in the fall but it really is a rare beast.  I happened to witness and capture such fog on November 26th 2012 during sunrise and its also included in my Blu-ray time lapse production “This is Hong Kong”  Hong Kong fog is simply stunning and below is my present and ongoing collection of fog images.  I’ve included more information about what creates fog in Hong Kong below the images.

Fog occurs when there are light wind, stable and humid conditions.   When the air near the ground cools down sufficiently its water vapour in the air may condense into tiny water droplets. These droplets reduce the visibility near ground level to under a kilometer. Fog is most common in springtime between February and April based on the Hong Kong Observatory about 6 days per year.  It’s also refereed to as coastal fog as marine traffic around Hong Kong is most effected by it.

In springtime, Hong Kong and surrounding areas are affected by alternate cold and warm air. As cold air from the north recedes, warm and humid air comes in from the South China Sea. During this time, as the water near the coast is still rather cold, the warm and humid air may be cooled sufficiently by the underlying cold water. This results in condensation of water vapour into droplets and hence formation of fog.  It should be noted it’s when that air hits land and especially land with mountains or skyscrapers fog occurs.  Hung Hom that is at the top of Kowloon Bay is one of the more frequent location to be hit with fog.

When the colder air at the surface can raise it’s known as stable conditions as it’s heavier than the warmer thinner air above it.  This is an important part of the creation of fog and also a major contributor when we have haze.

Other than stunning visual images Hong Kong fog can be a major concern for shipping in and around Hong Kong.  One will hear fog horns to alert other boats around them.  In the past there have been coastal accidents during such situations.

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