Dense Fog in California, December 2 to 3, 2003

Name: Dense Fog in California, December 2 to 3, 2003
Start: 2003-12-02T23:00
End: 2003-12-03T09:00
Location: California

December 2 to 3, 2003 · NWS HNX · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

Visibility lowered during the night of the 2nd due to dense fog from the Central San Joaquin Valley southward through the Southern San Joaquin Valley. Visibilities were reported as low as 100 feet by law enforcement before midnight in Merced County near Los Banos to 300 feet on the Kings-Kern County Line.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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.

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 Hanford, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 2, 8:45 PM PST, 2 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 2, 8:45 PM PST, 2 hours 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
845 PM PST TUE DEC 2 2003

.SHORT TERM...FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR...AN UPPER TROUGH
IS MOVING INTO WASHINGTON TONIGHT...WHILE A WEAK VORTMAX IS MOVING
THROUGH NORTHERN CALIFORNIA BRINGING SOME HIGH CLOUDS TO CENTRAL
CALIFORNIA. THE HIGH CLOUDS WILL HELP LIMIT FOG DEVELOPMENT TONIGHT
BUT COULD SEE SOME PATCHY FOG...ESPECIALLY MERCED COUNTY WHERE THEY
HAD A LITTLE BIT OF MOISTURE YESTERDAY. WEAK RIDGING WILL BE OVER
THE REGION WEDNESDAY WITH MODELS INDICATE TEMPS THE SAME OR A 2-3
DEGREES WARMER BETWEEN 850 AND 700 MB WEDNESDAY...BUT THE SAME TO
1-3 DEGREES COOLER BELOW 850 MB. FORECASTED TEMPS LOOK OK FOR THE
VALLEY...BUT MAY NEED TO TWEAK A FEW TEMPS IN THE MOUNTAINS BASED ON
TODAYS READINGS.

THE NEXT DISTURBANCE APRROACHES THE WEST COAST THURSDAY. MAIN PRECIP
THREAT WILL REMAIN TO OUR NORTH THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT. MESOETA
KEEPS PRECIP OUT OF THE CWFA THROUGH 12Z FRIDAY WHILE THE GFS BRINGS
PRECIP ACROSS THE CWFA FRIDAY. PRECIP WOULD BE WARM FRONTAL ON
FRIDAY AND IS LIKELY OVERDONE ON THE GFS.

.LONG TERM...FOR SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...UPPER TROF ALONG THE
WEST COAST WILL CONTINUE INTO SUN MORNING. SHORTWAVE MOVING THRU THE
TROF TO MOVE INTO CENTRAL CA LATE SAT PM TO 12Z SUN. BEST RH/OMEGA
PROGGED AT 06Z SUN. GFS QUICKLY DRIES THING OUT DURING THE DAY
SUN...WHICH SEEMS REASONABLE PER GEM/ECMWF SOLUTIONS. UPPER LEVEL
RIDGE BEGINS REBUILDING SUN AFTERNOON...AND THEN AMPLIFIES OVER THE
WEST COAST MON AND TUES. SNOW LEVEL SAT AND SAT NITE WILL BE
RELATIVELY HIGH CONSIDERING THE SEASON...GENERALLY ABOVE 8K FRI NITE
AND EARLY SAT...LOWERING TO 6K NEAR YOSEMITE TO 8K IN KERN CO SAT
NITE. NOT EXPECTING MUCH OVERALL QPF...SO SNOW AMTS TO BE LIGHT AND
SCATTERED. TEMPS REMAIN A LITTLE ABOVE NORMAL SAT AND SUN...THEN
CLOSER TO NORMAL MON AND TUE.

&&

.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE.

&&

BEAN/BINGHAM

Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 2, 5:00 AM PST, 18 hours before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK - CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
500 AM PST TUE DEC 2 2003

CAZ089>099-031200-
WEST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-EAST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-
SOUTHWESTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-
MARIPOSA MADERA AND FRESNO COUNTY FOOTHILLS-TULARE COUNTY FOOTHILLS-
KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON-
TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY-
SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT-
500 AM PST TUE DEC 2 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
INTERIOR.

.DAY ONE...TODAY.

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED TODAY.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS TO THEIR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.

Event by event

4 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.

Dense Fog, W Central S.J. Valley

When: December 2, 11:00 PM PST to December 3, 9:00 AM PST
Where: W Central S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

Dense Fog, E Central S.J. Valley

When: December 2, 11:53 PM PST to December 3, 9:00 AM PST
Where: E Central S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Dense Fog, Se S.J. Valley

When: December 3, 2:20 AM PST to 9:00 AM PST
Where: Se S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Dense Fog, Sw S.J. Valley

When: December 3, 7:30 AM PST to 9:00 AM PST
Where: Sw S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

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 California in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in California, December 2003

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: 5331862, 5331863, 5331865, 5331864.