Dense Fog in Georgia, March 14, 2002

Name: Dense Fog in Georgia, March 14, 2002
Start: 2002-03-14T07:50
End: 2002-03-14T07:50
Location: Georgia

March 14, 2002 · NWS FFC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 dense fog, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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.

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
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 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 Atlanta, GA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 14, 4:35 AM EST, 3 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 14, 4:35 AM EST, 3 hours 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
435 AM EST THU MAR 14 2002

...UPDATED TO INCLUDE AVIATION DISCUSSION...

OVERVIEW: WE WILL TRANSITION INTO A WETTER PATTERN AS WE SET UP A
WEST COAST TROUGH AND WESTERN ATLANTIC RIDGE WHICH KEEPS US IN BROAD
MOIST SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT.

SHORT TERM: SATELLITE STILL SHOWS A LARGE PATCH OF SC HANGING TOUGH
BETWEEN ATL AND CSG. SHOULD SEE THAT DISSIPATE WITH SOME MORNING
SUN...BUT STILL ENOUGH LOW LEVEL MOISTURE FOR PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES.
ALSO SOME PATCHY DENSE FOG AROUND UP NORTH. DONT THINK IT IS
EXTENSIVE ENOUGH FOR A DENSE FOG ADVISORY...BUT WILL MENTION IN
ZONES. BY TOMORROW WITH GOOD SOUTHERLY FLOW SHOULD SEE MORE
CLOUDINESS ...BUT STILL MILD TEMPERATURES. COLD FRONT MAKES IT INTO
THE STATE SATURDAY...BUT WITH NO REAL UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT IT SHOULD
BECOME STATIONARY ACROSS MIDDLE GEORGIA AND THEN MOVE NORTH SUNDAY.

EXTENDED: APPEARS WE WILL BE IN MOIST SOUTHERLY FLOW AT THE SURFACE
THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THIS ACCOUNTED FOR IN THE EXTENDED...SO WILL NOT
MAKE ANY CHANGES.

FORECAST CONFIDENCE: MODERATE THROUGH SATURDAY...BUT THEN LOWER
CONFIDENCE SUNDAY INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK DEPENDING ON MOVEMENT OF THE
FRONT.

FCSTID = 26

ATL  75 52 76 55 /  00 00 10 50
AHN  77 52 77 54 /  00 00 10 40
GVL  73 52 72 53 /  00 00 10 50
RMG  76 52 75 55 /  00 00 10 60
CSG  77 53 79 58 /  00 00 10 40
MCN  77 52 79 55 /  00 00 10 40

.ATL...
GA...NONE.

AVIATION DISCUSSION...
LEFTOVER MVFR CEILINGS DUE TO THIN LAYER OF MOISTURE AND LACK OF
ENOUGH SUBSIDENCE TO EVAPORATE. SUNSHINE WILL EVENTUALLY DISSIPATE
CEILINGS
TO ONLY SCATTERED CLOUDS. RADIATIONAL COOLING UNDER CLEAR SKIES
CAUSING AREAS OF FOG. EXPECT SOME IFR OR LIFR VISIBILITIES UNTIL AN
HOUR OR SO AFTER SUNRISE. OTHERWISE ONLY SCATTERED CLOUDS TODAY FROM
MOISTURE BELOW 5000 FT AND INCREASING HIGH CLOUDS LATE IN THE
DAY.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Mar 14, 6:00 AM EST, 1 hour 50 minutes before

GAZ001>009-011>016-019>025-027-030>039-041>062-066>076-078>086-
089>098-102>113-141600-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
600 AM EST THU MAR 14 2002

...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER EXPECTED THROUGH TONIGHT...

.SYNOPSIS...
SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE EASTERN U.S. WILL MOVE OFFSHORE THE
EAST COAST LATER TODAY. SURFACE LOW PRESSURE OVER THE MID U.S. WILL
MOVE TOWARD THE GREAT LAKES THROUGH TONIGHT. A STABLE AIRMASS WILL
CONTINUE OVER THE REGION.

.FOR SPOTTERS...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED THROUGH TONIGHT.
&&
FOR THE GRAPHICAL HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK AND OTHER WEATHER
INFORMATION...PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/FFC.

BDL

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.

Dense Fog, Catoosa

When: March 14, 7:50 AM EST
Where: Catoosa forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.904, -85.138 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Early morning dense fog contributed to one of the deadliest and costliest chain reaction accidents in Georgia's history. The incident occurred on both the north and southbound lanes of Interstate 75 at the Ringgold exit in a valley area. Eyewitness reports indicated that the fog was patchy but visibility was near zero in the area where the incident occurred, while good visibilities were noted at the tops of nearby ridges. Thus it was like "driving into a wall" at speeds of 75 mph. Five people were killed and 39 injured in the 125 car and truck pileup. The incident began in the northbound lane and was quickly repeated in a similar fashion in the southbound lane. There were 21 eighteen-wheel trucks and 41 passenger vehicles involved in the deadly accident in the northbound lane and four 18-wheel trucks and 21 passenger vehicles involved in the southbound lane. Traffic was backed up for miles for the entire day as the northbound lanes remained shutdown through midnight and into the next day while the southbound lanes were not opened until nearly 10 pm in the evening.

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 Georgia in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Georgia, March 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: 5281120.