Dense Fog — South Sjv, California

1998-11-14 · South Sjv, California

Wider weather episode

One of the states's worst multiple vehicle accidents occurred in dense fog beginning at 0850 PST Saturday, November 14. Over 74 vehicles, including 19 tractor-trailer rigs, were involved within a 1-mile stretch of State Highway 99 approximately 2 to 3 miles southeast of Kingsburg in Tulare County. There were 2 fatalities, and 51 injuries, 10 of those critical, of the 132 people involved. Dense fog advisories had been issued along with short term forecasts beginning at 1600 PST Friday afternoon. California Highway Patrol had been issuing statements about the dangers of dense fog specifically within the preceding 48 hours before the accident(s). Within Fresno County another 8 accidents occurred due to excessive speed in dense fog from the time period from 0710 to 0955 PST. While two of these accidents occurred in rural Fresno County, 6 of them occurred along Highway 99 between Herndon and Shaw in Northwest Fresno. The number of vehicles involved varied from 2 to 6 at each of these accident sites (the largest involving 6 cars at Highway 99 and Herndon Ave at 0725 PST). The number of vehicles involved through the Fresno area was 30 with 22 injuries reported. On State Highway 198 approximately 2 miles west of Highway 99 in Tulare County over 8 vehicles, including 2 tractor-trailer rigs, were involved in another area of fog-related accidents around 0830 PST. There were at least 5 injuries from this series of accidents.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5668455. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.