Forget about those nasty biting greenhead flies, the frigid ocean water and rude people who plant their beach chairs and umbrellas right next to you. There’s a new annoyance that’s made its presence known at the Jersey Shore this week — thick fog.
The fog rolled in along the ocean Monday morning, then made a notable return in the afternoon before coming back again Tuesday morning.
Some beachgoers said Monday’s afternoon fog turned so thick that they couldn’t see the ocean from the boardwalk in Belmar, or they couldn’t see the small beaches to their left and right in Toms River.
“The fog just rolled into Point Pleasant Beach west of the tracks,” News 12 New Jersey reporter Jim Murdoch said in a post on X shortly after 6 p.m. on Monday. “Reminds me of the smoke last summer, but without the smell and breathing issues.”
Murdoch posted a photo showing the fog eclipsing the sun. It looked eerily similar to scenes of dense smoke from massive Canadian wildfires hovering over streets and blocking the sun as far south as New Jersey last summer.
So what’s been causing the recent fog at the Jersey Shore?
“The really warm temperatures and high dew points are condensing into fog when the air moves over the ocean,” which has remained cool despite searing temperatures, said Michael Gorse, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s main forecast office in New Jersey.
Gorse said fog along the Shore tends to be more common earlier in the summer, mainly in the morning, but it has been developing the past few days because of the intense heat and very high humidity clashing with cold sea surface temperatures out in the Atlantic Ocean.
During recent weeks, persistent winds have been blowing from the south and southwest, pushing warm water on the ocean surface farther away from shore and causing cold water from the ocean floor to rise up to the surface.
The process, known as upwelling, has led to clear greenish-blue water along many parts of the Jersey Shore and also has caused colder air to blow from the ocean onto beaches.
Gorse said winds shifted slightly Monday afternoon, blowing from the southeast. That caused new batches of fog to form over the Atlantic and pushed some of the fog from the ocean onto the land.
Thick fog formed again late Monday night and Tuesday morning, prompting the weather service to issue dense fog advisories in many counties, including those along the Jersey Shore.
Current weather radar
Stories by Len Melisurgo
Correction: The original version of this article incorrectly described part of the upwelling process.
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Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com or on X at @LensReality.