Dense Fog in Florida, January 22, 2002

Name: Dense Fog in Florida, January 22, 2002
Start: 2002-01-22T00:00
End: 2002-01-22T09:00
Location: Florida

January 22, 2002 · NWS TBW · 15 events in 15 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 6 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 15

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.

A stationary front provided light winds, allowing a combination of dense sea and radiation fog to develop for a third consecutive night across most of West Central and Southwest Florida. Visibilities were once again reduced to 1/4 mile or less in many areas. After this event, conditions improved through the end of the month. Southeast flow allowed tropical air to overspread the region, limiting the fog to the more patchy variety.

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 Jan 21, 9:00 PM EST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 21, 9:00 PM EST, 3 hours before

WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
900 PM EST MON JAN 21 2002

ADEQUATE LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE ALONG A PRE-FRONTAL TROUGH AND COLD
FRONT OVER THE NORTHERN PENINSULA HELPED TO SET OFF SOME SCATTERED
SHOWERS AND A FEW STORMS OVER THE ADJACENT GULF WATERS AND OVER MY
NORTHERN MOST COUNTIES EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON. SINCE THEN WEAKENING
CONVERGENCE ALONG THESE BOUNDARYS HAS RESULTED IN PRECIP COMING TO
AND END AND ADDITIONAL MEASURABLE PRECIP IS NOT EXPECTED OVERNIGHT.

AS FOR THE REST OF THE NIGHT THOUGH...AMPLE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE...
NOCTURNAL COOLING AND LOW LEVEL WIND FLOW BECOMING LIGHT N-NELY AS
THE FRONT SAGS SOUTH WILL SET THE STAGE FOR A CLASSIC WIDESPREAD LOW
CLOUD AND DENSE FOG EVENT FOR THE ENTIRE FA OVERNIGHT. WILL MONITOR
CONDITIONS FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS...AND IF NEEDED WILL ISSUE AN NPW
(DENSE FOG ADVISORY) LATER TONIGHT FOR PORTIONS OF OR FOR ALL OF THE
CWA. IN ADDITION TO THE POSSIBLE NPW WILL REMOVE EVENING PRECIP
WORDING IN ZONES AS NEEDED...AND WILL BUMP UP OVERNIGHT MINIMUM TEMPS
IN LEVY COUNTY BY A CATEGORY OR SO BASED ON CURRENT TEMPERATURE
TRENDS.

ON THE MARINE SIDE...C-MAN AND OFFSHORE BUOYS SUPPORT ONGOING PACKAGE
WITH FLOW BECOMING LIGHT NELY OVERNIGHT. NO CHANGES EXPECTED IN THE
1030 PM UPDATE.

THANKS FOR COORD KMLB.

.TBW...NONE.

MCMICHAEL

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jan 21, 11:40 PM EST, 20 minutes before

FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-221100-

WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
1140 PM EST MON JAN 21 2002

...AREAS OF DENSE FOG EXPECTED OVERNIGHT...

ABUNDANT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE ALONG WITH LIGHT WINDS WILL ALLOW AREAS
OF DENSE FOG TO DEVELOP OVER WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
OVERNIGHT. THE FOG WILL REDUCE VISIBILITIES TO A QUARTER MILE OR LESS
IN MANY LOCATION OVERNIGHT.

MOTORISTS TRAVELING ON AREAS ROADWAYS OVERNIGHT SHOULD EXERCISE
EXTREME CAUTION AND BE READY FOR REDUCED VISIBILITIES. MOTORISTS
SHOULD SLOW DOWN...USE LOW BEAM HEADLIGHTS...AND MAINTAIN A SAFE
FOLLOWING DISTANCE BETWEEN THE VEHICLE IN FRONT OF YOU.

JCM

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

15 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.

Dense Fog, Levy

When: January 22, 12:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Levy forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Dense Fog, Citrus

When: January 22, 12:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Citrus forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Dense Fog, Hernando

When: January 22, 12:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Hernando forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Dense Fog, Pasco

When: January 22, 12:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Pasco forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Dense Fog, Pinellas

When: January 22, 12:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Pinellas forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 27.903, -82.739 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Manatee

When: January 22, 12:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Manatee forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Dense Fog, Sarasota

When: January 22, 12:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Sarasota forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Dense Fog, Charlotte

When: January 22, 12:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Charlotte forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Dense Fog, Lee

When: January 22, 12:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Lee forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Dense Fog, Hillsborough

When: January 22, 1:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Hillsborough forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Dense Fog, Sumter

When: January 22, 2:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Sumter forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 28.705, -82.081 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Polk

When: January 22, 2:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Polk forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 27.949, -81.698 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Hardee

When: January 22, 2:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Hardee forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 27.493, -81.810 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Highlands

When: January 22, 2:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Highlands forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 27.343, -81.341 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, De Soto

When: January 22, 2:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: De Soto forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 27.186, -81.809 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

Every storm in Florida in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Florida, 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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5277954, 5277955, 5277956, 5277958, 5277959, 5277962, 5277966, 5277967, 5277968, 5277960, 5277957, 5277961, 5277963, 5277964, 5277965.