Dense Fog — West Central Deserts, Arizona

2017-02-20 · West Central Deserts, Arizona

Event narrative

Lingering low level moisture and clearing skies set the stage for the development of dense morning fog across portions of La Paz county on February 20th. Areas of dense fog formed in and around the community of Wenden; at 0730MST a trained spotter 2 miles northwest of Wenden reported visibility down to 500 feet. Five minutes later another spotter in Wenden reported dense fog with visibility less than 100 yards at milepost 61.5 on U.S. Highway 60. The fog created very hazardous morning driving conditions during rush hour; fortunately no accidents or injuries occurred due to the restricted visibilities.

Wider weather episode

A large area of low pressure brought considerable amounts of moisture to the western deserts over the weekend, and as skies cleared on Monday February 20th, patchy dense morning fog developed over La Paz County. Some of the thickest fog occurred near and around the community of Wenden; trained spotters in the area reported sharply restricted visibilities down to less than one hundred yards. The fog created very hazardous morning driving conditions during the rush hour; fortunately no accidents were reported as a result of the very low visibilities.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 687639. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.