Dense Fog, Polk
- When
- February 6, 4:00 AM EST to 8:00 AM EST
- Where
- Polk forecast zone
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $350,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 27.949, -81.698 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Dense Fog in Florida, February 6, 2001
S. Highway 27 between two hills over extreme northeast Polk county.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 1
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $350,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS TBW wrote it up.
The combination of dense fog and smoke from a nearby 3,500 acre wildfire caused localized visibility to be reduced to near zero along a dip in U.S. Highway 27 between two hills over extreme northeast Polk county. Two major accidents occurred at the location of the reduced visibility which resulted in one fatality at approximately 5 am EST. Eight vehicles, which involved four tractor-trailers, a gravel truck, a milk truck, a pickup truck and a passenger vehicle, were either destroyed or significantly damaged in the accidents.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Tampa Bay, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 6, 2:16 AM EST, 1 hour 44 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 6, 2:16 AM EST, 1 hour 44 minutes before
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
216 AM EST TUE FEB 6 2001
A CLASSIC RADIATIONAL COOLING NIGHT IS IN PLACE AND COULD PRODUCE
PATCHY FROST WELL INTO SOUTH CENTRAL FLORIDA. WINDS WILL VEER
AROUND TODAY BRINGING A LITTLE MORE MOISTURE IN FOR TOMORROW
MORNING. THE NET RESULT WILL BE THAT LOWS WEDNESDAY MORNING WILL
BE A FEW DEGREES WARMER AND FROST WILL BE CONFINED TO THE NORTHERN
FEW COUNTIES.
EVEN WITH LOW LEVEL MOISTURE ON THE INCREASE VERY DRY AIR WILL
CONTINUE IN LOW LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE. THIS WILL MIX DOWN THIS
AFTERNOON AND DRY OUT THE AIR FURTHER. THEREFORE THE FIRE WEATHER
WATCH WILL BE UPGRADED TO A RED FLAG WARNING OVER INLAND AREAS
NORTH OF CHARLOTTE COUNTY.
THE FORECAST THIS MORNING WILL BE ONE OF PERSISTENCE...MAYBE
ADJUSTING TEMPS A HAIR HERE AND THERE. AS WITH THE MARINE
FORECAST...THERE WILL BE NO MAJOR DIFFERENCES WITH YESTERDAYS
FORECAST.
THE ONLY TWIST I CAN SEE IN THE FORECAST IS THAT FOG CHANCES LOOK
BETTER WEDNESDAY MORNING AND VERY GOOD FOR THURSDAY MORNING. I
WILL NOT MENTION IT AT THIS TIME...BUT WILL TOMORROW NIGHT.
THE NEXT SHOT OF ANY RAINFALL WILL BE SATURDAY WITH THE NEXT FRONT.
AND CONSIDERING HOW FAR OUT IN THE FORECAST THIS IS I WOULD NOT BET
THE FARM ON THIS.
PRELIMINARY NUMBERS
TPA UU 071/046 078/057 080 0000
FMY UU 075/048 081/059 082 0000
.TBW...FIRE WEATHER WATCH PINELLAS SARASOTA CHARLOTTE AND LEE AND
COASTAL PORTIONS OF CITRUS HERNANDO PASCO HILLSBOROUGH AND
MANATEE COUNTIES.
...RED FLAG WARNING LEVY SUMTER POLK HARDEE DE SOTO AND
HIGHLANDS COUNTY AND INLAND PORTIONS OF CITRUS HERNANDO
PASCO HILLSBOROUGH AND MANATEE COUNTIES.
SOBIENThe radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.
The people who died
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dense Fog, Polk | 2001-02-06 | 33 | Male | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Direct |
What these are
- Dense Fog
- Fog reducing visibility to a quarter mile or less, filed where it caused accidents or disruption.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Avalanche in Wyoming, February 6, 2001
- High Wind in California, February 6, 2001
- High Wind in California, February 6 to 7, 2001
- Winter Storm in South Dakota, February 6 to 8, 2001
- Winter Storm in Wyoming, February 6 to 7, 2001
- Winter Storm in Wyoming, February 6 to 7, 2001
- Dense Fog in California, February 6, 2001
- High Wind in California, February 6 to 7, 2001
- High Wind in Alaska, February 6, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Montana, February 6, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Nevada, February 6 to 7, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Montana, February 6, 2001
More
Every storm in Florida in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, February 2001
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5235352.