Weather Words: 'Fogdog' | Weather.com
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You may have heard about sundogs, but what about fogdogs?

Chris DeWeese
ByChris DeWeeseOctober 1, 2025
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A “fogdog” is a nautical term that means a bright or clear spot in a bank of fog. For sailors caught in thick fog, a fogdog can sometimes be the only means of finding the shore.

According to some 19th-century nautical manuals, fogdogs are thought to indicate that the fog will lift soon.

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(valio84sl / Getty Images )

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the earliest known use of the fogdog occurred in 1831, in the Athenaeum, a London journal of literature, science and fine arts.

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