Dense Fog — Lower Baldwin, Alabama

2000-11-03 · Lower Baldwin, Alabama

Event narrative

Patchy dense fog and smoke from a nearby brush fire combined to contribute to a series of traffic pileups involving between 30 and 35 vehicles on Interstate 10. The brush fire, which was started by a lightning strike back at the end of August 2000, had been smoldering for over two months in a nearby, but remote swamp. Around 530 AM (11/03/00), visibilities along Interstate 10 near the Wilcox Road Exit were sharply reduced by smoke and fog. Automobiles traveling westbound along I-10 abrubtly encountered the very low visibilities and suddenly put on their brakes. Fast moving traffic from behind slammed into the slower moving vehicles, and this resulted in several massive traffic pileups, involving 30 to 35 vehicles. Over 10 different accidents were reported along the stretch of I-10 between the Wilcox Road Exit and the Loxley Exit. Eight people were injured in the wrecks, but fortunately, no one was killed. The wrecks shut down a nine-mile stretch of the westbound lane of interstate 10 for several hours, and created traffic headaches all day long as the wreckage was removed.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5160832. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.