File:Carpathians Surrounded by Fog and Cloud (MODIS).jpg

English: The Carpathian Mountains abound with dramatic landscapes: towering rock-faced mountains, spine-tingling castles, green lowland meadows, shimmering lakes, and stunning sunrises all greet the traveler to this Central European wonderland. Perhaps the most dramatic—and ubiquitous—features are fog and cloud. Photos feature green forest amid a gray mist, castle spires appearing eerily from dark gray cloud, or mountain peaks aglow in a vibrant sunset—just above a white pool of low cloud. Carpathian fog and cloud are also integral to literature, such as Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula, where misty ribbons of fog crept under doors and through windows, bringing a sense of dread to travelers in the Count’s Transylvanian abode.

While fog and cloud doesn’t shroud the mountainous region constantly, they are frequent visitors, especially in the mornings and in the cool seasons. Travel websites note that in Romania, where about half of the Carpathians are located, in late October and through November rainy and foggy days are abundant, marking the arrival of winter.

On November 15, 2022, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of the high peaks of the Carpathian Mountains poking through fog and cloud. In the center of the image, fog fills the Transylvanian Depression and patches can also be seen filling several steep mountain valleys.

Fog, which is essentially very low cloud that sits near ground level, typically appears softly textured in satellite images and, at the edges, tendrils can be seen creeping into valleys. In contrast, banks of cloud rise above the ground and do not lay in valleys. At times banks of low-level cloud (such as stratocumulus) may butt up against the peaks of very tall mountains while staying far above ground level. That is likely the case with the wide swath of cloud surrounding the Carpathians.

On November 15, Weather Underground reported that the city of Sibiu, Romania was under fog, while conditions at Bucharest, Romania, were cloudy. Sibiu is located near the center of the Transylvanian Depression while Bucharest sits under the heavy bank of white on the southeastern ridge of the Carpathian Mountains.