Dense Fog, Kern Cty Mtns
- When
- January 3, 9:13 AM PST to 2:00 PM PST
- Where
- Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
- Deaths
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Injuries
- 15 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $750,000
- Reported by
- BROADCAST MEDIA
Dense Fog in California, January 3, 2002
Dense fog conditions east through south of Bakersfield and on the northern slopes of the Tehachapi Mountains led to instances of multi-vehicle accidents. At 15 miles east-southeast of Bakersfield on Highway 58 two event centers involved a total of 78 cars and trucks with one fatality and 15 injuries.
The toll
- Deaths
- 1
- Injuries
- 15
- Property damage
- $830,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
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 HNX wrote it up.
Dense fog conditions east through south of Bakersfield and on the northern slopes of the Tehachapi Mountains led to instances of multi-vehicle accidents. At 15 miles east-southeast of Bakersfield on Highway 58 two event centers involved a total of 78 cars and trucks with one fatality and 15 injuries. Another case on Interstate-5 near Lebec involved 9 vehicles with unconfirmed reports of injuries but no fatalities. Visibility was reported less than 100 feet in the dense fog.
Event by event
2 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.
Dense Fog, Kern Cty Mtns
- When
- January 3, 1:04 PM PST to 2:00 PM PST
- Where
- Kern Cty Mtns forecast zone
- Property damage
- $80,000
- Reported by
- BROADCAST MEDIA
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, Kern Cty Mtns | 2002-01-03 | 53 | 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
- Winter Storm in North Carolina, January 3, 2002
- Heavy Snow in North Carolina, January 3, 2002
- Winter Storm in North Carolina, January 3 to 4, 2002
- High Surf in Hawaii, January 3 to 4, 2002
- Heavy Snow in South Carolina, January 3, 2002
- Winter Storm in Maryland, January 3, 2002
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Virginia, January 3, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Alabama, January 3, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Georgia, January 3, 2002
- Heavy Snow in South Carolina, January 3, 2002
- Heavy Snow in North Carolina, January 3, 2002
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Maryland, January 3, 2002
More
Every storm in California in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in California, January 2002
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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5279334, 5279335.