Dense Fog — E Central S.j. Valley, California

2019-01-10 · E Central S.j. Valley, California

Event narrative

Visibility below a quarter mile was reported in Fresno, Madera, Merced and Atwater. Several school districts either had delayed openings or delayed morning bus service. A head on crash in dense fog near Atwater at 612 PST caused one fatality and 3 injuries.

Wider weather episode

An upper ridge pushed inland into California on the evening of January 9th and morning of January 10. As a result, skies cleared out and winds diminished across the San Joaquin Valley during the early morning hours which led to the development of widespread dense fog across much of the valley on the morning of the 10th and several locations reported visibility of an eighth of a mile or less. The dense fog was responsible for a fatal auto accident near Atwater. Several school districts in the valley opened late that morning. The fog lifted into a low cloud deck by late morning and dissipated by early afternoon.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 792656. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.