Someone this morning told me something an old guy told her about when to expect the first frost. You watch for the first foggy morning after Labor Day. Then you count 45 days from that morning and the first frost will happen. I just have to see if that works. LOL! There's a note attached to my September calendar to remind me.

Now that might just be for here in Georgia or maybe this part of Zone 8. Who knows.

Has anybody heard of this or anything similar?

Our first is usually supposed to happen around hunting season here mid to late September..I wouldn’t like to see it’s true up this way

Up this way we just don’t get foggy days, so we have to rely on historical averages for first frost. Then it is a guess thirty days either side of average. My twenty year log can be thrown out as can the hundred year average. I just count on Halloween being pretty close.

GoDawgs wrote: ↑Tue Aug 20, 2024 10:16 am Someone this morning told me something an old guy told her about when to expect the first frost. You watch for the first foggy morning after Labor Day. Then you count 45 days from that morning and the first frost will happen. I just have to see if that works. LOL! There's a note attached to my September calendar to remind me.

Now that might just be for here in Georgia or maybe this part of Zone 8. Who knows.

Has anybody heard of this or anything similar?

We don't reliably get fog. Sometimes we get plenty (rarely), but it's not consistent. The fog we get nowadays looks more mist-like. When I was a kid, it looked less mist-like, and more shapely (similar to stretched out clouds; you know, the smooth cool mysterious kind of fog that you can't see through; we don't seem to get that anymore; just mist, and you can actually see the mist particles).

So, what I usually do is keep checking the ten-day forecast for days where the nightly low is freezing or close to freezing. In theory, it can frost when the weather says it's warmer than that, but in my area it doesn't normally seem to be a big deal at the end of the season unless it's close to freezing.

What's fog?


I honestly can't remember the last time I saw fog here.

We get plenty of fog but it's pretty random and any time of year.
Also our first frost 'average' is pretty meaningless, because that too is quite random.

One thing I noticed, the first flakes of snow or non-liquid precipitation has always been very regular on halloween. That's also the day we drop below 10 hours of daylight.

It sure would be cool to have a sign like that, to count down to frost in a given year.

Fog here is generally of two varieties, depending on how cool an incoming front is and how hot it's been prior to that. Also how much moisture is in the ground. One is the slightly misty fog where the whole world is milky colored. The other is a thick blanket that hovers just a few feet over the pastures with clear air above. I guess I'll have to pick whichever comes first to start counting. Better yet, count days from both types of fog.

Don't old guys always have foggy mornings?

We get sea fog, pasture fog, and general widespread fog. Sea fog rolls in off the Gulf of Mexico and bays like a sandstorm and you can see it coming. Pasture fog is just hovering out over the pastures and prairies early in the morning. General widespread fog is everywhere, trees, forests, buildings, no place gets spared and seemingly appears out of nowhere, no particular direction and everywhere at once.

Pasture fog can happen about year round. Sea fog only happens when the local water and nearby gulf cools off. Widespread fog is also a cooler season deal.

Foggy mornings for old guys just depends.

Tormato wrote: ↑Wed Aug 21, 2024 8:20 amDon't old guys always have foggy mornings?

Heck, even some of...um...less mature ones do.....

The Gotch

Tormato wrote: ↑Wed Aug 21, 2024 8:20 am Don't old guys always have foggy mornings?

Don't put it past us older gals either! I hate it when I walk into a room and forget why I'm there! But it happens pretty regularly.

As for the fog/frost equation, we don't get that much fog up here either. I prefer the data method and use the USDA average. I don't care what they're calling my zone. Historical data matters.

JayneR13 wrote: ↑Wed Aug 21, 2024 9:42 amAs for the fog/frost equation, we don't get that much fog up here either. I prefer the data method and use the USDA average. I don't care what they're calling my zone. Historical data matters.

You's don't get much fog near Green Bay? Whould thunk it.

The Gotch

Cornelius_Gotchberg wrote: ↑Wed Aug 21, 2024 10:48 am

JayneR13 wrote: ↑Wed Aug 21, 2024 9:42 amAs for the fog/frost equation, we don't get that much fog up here either. I prefer the data method and use the USDA average. I don't care what they're calling my zone. Historical data matters.

You's don't get much fog near Green Bay? Whould thunk it.

The Gotch

We do get some, but the bulk of it happens the morning after Game Day. Maybe I just don't see it in the city.