Eerie phenomena in Greece as a dense fog covered the south suburbs of Athens on Saturday morning and Sahara Dust struck the town of Nafplio in eastern Peloponnese on Sunday evening.
There were mainly traffic problems as visibility was limited and the phenomenon was particularly intense along the Athens Riviera.
Alimos beach at 10 am on Saturday
Video: Fog at Faliro Beach
The rather rare phenomenon in the Greek capital had covered areas such as Alimos, Argyroupoli, Elliniko, Faliro, Kastela.
Fog over Ano Glyfada – picture taken by drone.
On Sunday, it was the Sahara Dust that covered the town of Nafplio in Argolida, eastern Peloponnese, creating another eerie scenery.
Local media argolikeseidiseis.gr attributes the phenomenon Sahara Dust that has been affecting Greece since last Wednesday.
Fog or Sahara Dust or both strongly reminded me of the first time I was confronted with the phenomenon coming from the sea. I was in a sleepy fishermen village on a Greek picturesque island on a quiet morning in July years and years ago, enjoying my morning coffee at the pier. Then I suddenly saw something like a huge white cloud moving on the sea surface, approaching slowly the land from the sea. I was 20 and it was the first time I was confronted with such a phenomenon. To be honest I was waiting for one-eyed pirates to jump with their wooden legs from their wrecked ship at the tiny port and create havoc or something… Thank goodness, I survived the fog and my vivid imagination.
Nowadays, the fog coming from the sea has simple explanation and doesn’t exclusively hides pirates.
🌫️🌫️🌫️Η ΟΜΙΧΛΗ ΜΕΤΑΦΟΡΑΣ ΣΤΑ ΝΟΤΙΑ ΠΡΟΑΣΤΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΑΤΤΙΚΗΣ ΣΤΙΣ 15 ΜAΡTIOY 2025
✅ Mια αναδυόμενη ομίχλη από τη θάλασσα εμφανίστηκε σήμερα στα νότια τμήματα της Αττικής αλλά γενικότερα και στην περιοχή του Σαρωνικού και του Νοτιοδυτικού Αιιγαίου (Μυρτώο Πέλαγος) στις ανατολικές… pic.twitter.com/ac7sP8GIpc— Theodoros Kolydas (@KolydasT) March 15, 2025
“An emerging fog from the sea appeared today in the southern parts of Attica but more generally in the Saronic and Southwest Aegean (Myrtoan Sea) regions on the eastern coast of the Peloponnese,” the director of the National Meteorological Service (EMY) thodoris Kollydas noted on social media.
The sea water is cold at this time of the year, while the surface of the land can warm up noticeably. Sea temperatures are around 15-16 and locally 17 degrees Celsius, he noted.
On Saturday, March 15, temperatures were over 23 degrees Celsius.
The temperatures prevailing on land were higher, while the winds in the lower layers of the atmosphere brought warm air, and when the air came into contact with the “frozen sea” near the coast, its temperature dropped sharply, resulting in the water vapor condensing and forming fog. A similar fog existed South-East of Crete, Kolydas explained.
He added that this fog is called “horizontal convection fog” because the water vapor moves horizontally. This fog was thus formed by the convection of moist and relatively warm air over the colder surface of the water. A necessary condition for its creation is that the cold sea surface be so cold that it can lower the temperature of the warm and moist air passing above it below its dew point.
“If during the day the wind starts blowing along the coast from the sea, the sea fog can penetrate inland. When the fog enters the inland, however, it warms up and thus dissipates,” Kolydas concluded.
