Mesembs and (Coastal) Fogs

[todatom]

I know that for many mesembs, fogs, especially on the Atlantic coast, are an important source of moisture, but are the fogs seasonal and (seasonal or not) how frequent are they? If anyone can answer those questions, I'd love to hear from you.

Alan

[Davey246]

https://www.info-namibia.com/info/namibia-weather

The description is "normal" conditions. The Benguela current is subject to the same changes that are called El Nino in Pacific S America

[Pattock]

This describes the rain and fog characteristics of different parts of the Succulent Karoo. If you are only interested in fog, there are 42 mentions.

https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... aroo_Biome

There are no mentions of fog in the equivalent climate descriptions for the Nama Karoo, but seven mentions of hailstorms:

https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... aroo_Biome

If you want some in-depth PhD level fogginess:

https://etd.uwc.ac.za/bitstream/handle/ ... sequence=1

Feeling too happy? Read about the decrease in fog due to climate change and its effects on some mesembs:

https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... e_Humidity

[MikeT]

Some plants rely on fog coming in from the sea. The fog will come well inland along valleys (such as the Orange River), but elsewhere blocked from moving inland by high ground. Fog will supply moisture at low altitudes.
Some plants get moisture from low cloud on the mountain tops, usually early morning, this is obviously at high altitude. This pattern is why on some hills/mountains there may be succulents at the base, and at the top, but far fewer in between.