A meteorological phenomenon, known simply as “sea fog”, occurred along the coastline, affecting water visibility across the beaches and within Port Stephens, and prompting very curious questions from those who saw their sunny Sunday turn grey and opaque.

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Official Bureau of Meteorology information indicates that “sea fogs form when moist air above a warm water surface encounters a colder water surface.

“This causes the air to cool below its dew point temperature.”

“They are relatively rare in the Australian region, but when they do occur they are often widespread and persistent even in moderate strength winds.”

The movement of warm, moist air, such as the area has experienced in the relatively high humidity recently, was over a cooler ocean surface, causing the formation of low-lying clouds.

As the sea fog crept rapidly across the ocean, it was inevitably met by the immovable monolith that is Yacaaba headland.

The fog gathered on the windward side and crept up and over the stalwart protector of Providence Bay, wrapping all in a dense, leaden veil, ceaselessly smothering the isthmus and running along the peaks on the south side of the bay.

The onshore winds could be seen in the rapid movement of the fog as it smothered Bennetts Beach and half of Hawks Nest with a rather welcome cool mist, after the hot morning.

The appearance of the sea fog over the water was easily confused with the tail end of a nearby bushfire, however this sort of weather is not particularly conducive to bushfires, given the high moisture content of the atmosphere.

A few on-the-spot observations suggested they were “pileus”, “lenticular” or “banner” clouds, which are distinct formations that occur under specific conditions.

The more darkly imaginative observers may have interpreted the greying-out of the sky, sea and land as an ominous portent, with all beyond the veil simply vanishing from sight… at least for a few minutes.

Jimmys Beach, seen from Winda Woppa, also seemed to vanish into the ether, as weekend beachgoers scrambled to pack up and evacuate the meteorological mystery.

As the high humidity persists over summer, we might expect to see more sea fog events, such as the equally rare sea fog that covered the south-eastern corner of Tasmania, from Hobart to Freycinet, on 26 November this year.

By Thomas O’KEEFE