Inversion creates beautiful scenes despite the pollution

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This is the time of year for temperature inversions. Often we lament the weather inversions that produce cold, fog and gloom. However, there is a beautiful side to the inversions.

Inversions happen often in many locations throughout the world and especially in the valleys of northern Utah. In the winter, it can sometimes mean cold and smog for extended periods of time.

What is inversion?

Normally, temperature drops as you gain altitude. Many will have experienced this when driving up into the mountains on a warm day to cool off for a bit.

Inversion is when the temperature actually rises with altitude temporarily. This creates a barrier that keeps any air that is cooler than what is above it stuck below - including pollution and particulate matter from smoke.

This is not good for air quality, but has a number of interesting effects, like frost and fog .

As a warm mass of air traps the colder air underneath, natural upward convection is stopped. The lack of convection traps all the emissions from vehicles, fires, etc., and thus the smog. Without convection, the cold air sinks and can become bitter. In fact, the second coldest temperature ever recorded within the continental United States — -69.3 degrees Fahrenheit — was measured in a place called Peter Sinks just several miles up Logan Canyon.

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In most conditions, however, as you go up a canyon during an inversion, the temperature will get warmer and clearer. So if you wish to escape the inversion and feel the sunlight, head up a canyon for a drive, skiing, snowshoeing or other outdoor winter recreation.

The cold from the inversion causes other things to happen, too. If there is a little bit of moisture, there may be thick fog for days at a time. As the cold settles and gets colder, it will cause the water droplets in the fog to freeze to any cold surface. Sometimes driving in fog, the antenna on a car will become coated in layers of ice. Even puffs of wind can cause the water to stick and build up. Some mornings all the trees, signs and cars are covered with layers of this beautiful hoar frost. The white ice all over makes for wonderful scenes.

What beauty do you find during inversions?

Seth is a curious scientist and freelance writer living in beautiful Cache Valley.