Arizona, 2006

Dense Fog in Arizona, December 23, 2006

December 23, 2006 · NWS PSR · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A strong low pressure system moved across Arizona on Friday Dec 22. widespread dense fog resulted by Saturday morning.

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 happened

The episode as NWS PSR wrote it up.

A strong low pressure system moved across Arizona on Friday Dec 22. The rainfall saturated the lower levels of the atmosphere...and with efficient cooling overnight...widespread dense fog resulted by Saturday morning. |Near zero visibility was reported at Florence...Casa Grande...Apache Junction...Chandler...Gilbert...Queen Creek...Tempe and Phoenix.|At Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport the visibility dropped from 6 miles at 520 am to 3/4 mile at 540 am to zero at 6 am, and the visibility remained less than a half mile until 10 am.

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 Phoenix, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 22, 3:15 PM MST, 14 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 22, 3:15 PM MST, 14 hours 45 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 22, 6:11 AM MST, 23 hours 49 minutes before
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Event by event

1 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.

Dense Fog, Greater Phoenix Area

When
December 23, 6:00 AM MST to 10:00 AM MST
Where
Greater Phoenix Area forecast zone
Reported by
Mesonet

Dense fog reported at several locations around the Greater Phoenix area. Zero visibility at both Phoenix Sky Harbor and Chandler Municipal airports.

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

More

Every storm in Arizona in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, December 2006

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: 5368.