A dense fog covered Asunción, Luque, Mariano Roque Alonso and other locations in the Central Department on Saturday morning, drastically reducing visibility for drivers and pedestrians. The phenomenon also affected Silvio Pettirossi Airport in Luque, where visibility was practically zero in the early hours, but there were no flight cancellations, according to Rubén Aguilar of the National Directorate of Civil Aviation (Dinac).
The Director of Meteorology, Eduardo Mingo, clarified the difference between fog and mist: both are the same phenomenon, but differ in density. “We call it fog when the moisture content is high and radiative cooling turns the moisture into water droplets. If visibility is one kilometer or less, it is fog; if it is greater, it is mist,” Mingo explained in an interview with Telefuturo.
Mingo added that radiative fog is the most common in Paraguay, but there is a more severe type, advective fog, which occurs when a warm, moist air mass moves horizontally over a cooler surface. The recommendation for drivers is to double their attention and use low beams.