California, 2008

Dense Fog in California, February 9 to 12, 2008

February 9 to 12, 2008 · NWS HNX · 11 events in 4 counties and zones

A tranquil weather pattern set in behind the storm from the 2nd and 3rd of February. An upper-level ridge of high pressure built into California on the 8th.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
30
Property damage
$6.3 million
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
11

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.

A tranquil weather pattern set in behind the storm from the 2nd and 3rd of February. An upper-level ridge of high pressure built into California on the 8th. The stable airmass combined with surface moisture from the earlier rains for the development of dense fog during the night of February 8th-9th. After a brief respite from the fog on the 10th, dense fog returned the next two nights. A 10-15 car pileup occurred on the morning of the 11th near Kerman west of Fresno, where there were no injuries, and newspaper accounts of only minor property damages. However, the fog was a major factor in a series of chain-reaction accidents on Highway 99 near Kingsburg during the morning of February 12th. At least four separate accidents occurred, involving at least 40 vehicles and resulting in at an estimated 10 people being injured.

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 Feb 9, 1:34 AM PST, 1 hour 14 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 9, 1:34 AM PST, 1 hour 14 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
134 AM PST SAT FEB 9 2008

.DISCUSSION...SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS THE RIDGE IS NOW CENTERED
OVER CENTRAL CALIFORNIA WITH LOTS OF DRY AIR ALOFT. IN THE SAN
JOAQUIN VALLEY, THIS RIDGE PATTERN AND LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL
COMBINE TO CREATE AREAS OF DENSE FOG THIS MORNING AND ALREADY THE
USUAL FIRST TO FOG UP LOCATIONS OF HANFORD AND MADERA ARE DOING
SO. EXPECT THE FOG TO INCREASE IN COVERAGE THROUGH THE EARLY
MORNING HOURS AND THE DENSE FOG ADVISORY LOOKS ON TRACK. MODELS
ARE IN GOOD AGREEEMENT IN KEEPING THE RIDGE OVER THE FORECAST AREA
TODAY AND SUNDAY AND OVERALL TEMPERATURES WILL WARM UP IN
RESPONSE. TODAY LOOKS LIKE THE WARMEST DAY OF THE WEEKEND WITH
SOME SLIGHT COOLING OVER THE SIERRA ON SUNDAY AS A WEAK SHORTWAVE
TROUGH PASSES OVER THE TOP OF THE RIDGE. THE RIDGE IS PROGGED TO
REAMPLIFY ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY AND TEMPERATURES WILL STAY MILD
FOR FEBRUARY. IN THE TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY TIME FRAME,
THERE IS GENERAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GFS AND ECMWF MODELS IN
BRINGING A MORE SUBSTANTIAL TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE INTO CENTRAL
CALIFORNIA FROM THE NORTHWEST. MODELS THEN FORM A CLOSED LOW OVER
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ON THURSDAY AND THEN MOVE THE LOW CENTER INTO
ARIZONA ON FRIDAY. THIS PATTERN WOULD BRING A CHANCE OF SNOW TO
THE SIERRA AND A RATHER STRONG WIND EVENT AS PLENTY OF COLD AIR
DIVES INTO THE AREA. IF THE MODEL FORECAST HOLDS TRUE, THURSDAYS
WEATHER PARAMETERS INDICATE THE POSSIBILITY OF A MONO WIND EVENT
FOR THE SIERRA. IT IS STILL A WAY OUT ON DAY 6 AND MODELS DO
CHANGE CONSIDERABLY THIS FAR INTO THE FUTURE, SO WELL JUST HAVE
TO WATCH AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS. CONTINUED DRY FOR ALL AREAS OUTSIDE
THE SIERRA TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY.

&&

.AVIATION...MAINLY MVFR VISIBILITIES IN MIST AND HAZE ARE EXPECTED
TO CONTINUE THROUGH 12Z SUNDAY IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTH SAN JOAQUIN
VALLEY. IN ADDITION...AREAS OF IFR/LIFR VISIBILITIES IN FOG ARE
EXPECTED IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTH SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY THROUGH 18Z
TODAY. OTHERWISE VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL ACROSS THE CENTRAL
CALIFORNIA INTERIOR THROUGH 12Z SUNDAY.

&&

.AIR QUALITY ISSUES...
THE VALLEY AIR DISTRICT HAS ISSUED THE FOLLOWING FIREPLACE/WOOD
STOVE BURNING DECLARATION FOR SATURDAY FEBRUARY 9 2008. WOOD
BURNING IS DISCOURAGED IN FRESNO... KERN AND TULARE COUNTIES.

&&

.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
DENSE FOG ADVISORY UNTIL 11 AM PST THIS MORNING FOR CAZ089>092.

&&

DUDLEY/DS

WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD
Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 8, 8:59 PM PST, 5 hours 49 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
859 PM PST FRI FEB 8 2008

CAZ089>092-091200-
WEST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-EAST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-
SOUTHWESTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-
859 PM PST FRI FEB 8 2008

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

A DENSE FOG ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FROM 2 AM TO 11 AM PST SATURDAY.
PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST NON PRECIPITATION WARNING AT /WWUS76
KHNX/ OR /SFONPWHNX/ FOR DETAILS.

AFTER 11 AM SATURDAY...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS TO THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
OFFICE.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.

TLM

WEATHER.GOV/HANFORD

Event by event

11 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.

Dense Fog, W Central S.J. Valley

When
February 9, 2:48 AM PST to 10:00 AM PST
Where
W Central S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by
Official NWS Observations

Dense Fog, E Central S.J. Valley

When
February 9, 2:48 AM PST to 10:00 AM PST
Where
E Central S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by
Official NWS Observations

Dense Fog, Sw S.J. Valley

When
February 9, 2:48 AM PST to 10:00 AM PST
Where
Sw S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by
Official NWS Observations

Dense Fog, Se S.J. Valley

When
February 9, 2:48 AM PST to 10:00 AM PST
Where
Se S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by
Official NWS Observations

Dense Fog, Sw S.J. Valley

When
February 11, 1:53 AM PST to 11:23 AM PST
Where
Sw S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by
Official NWS Observations

Dense Fog, Se S.J. Valley

When
February 11, 1:53 AM PST to 11:23 AM PST
Where
Se S.J. Valley forecast zone
Reported by
Official NWS Observations

Dense Fog, E Central S.J. Valley

When
February 11, 1:53 AM PST to 11:23 AM PST
Where
E Central S.J. Valley forecast zone
Property damage
$200,000
Reported by
Newspaper

Dense Fog, W Central S.J. Valley

When
February 11, 8:30 PM PST to February 12, 11:00 AM PST
Where
W Central S.J. Valley forecast zone
Property damage
$60,000
Reported by
Official NWS Observations

Dense Fog, E Central S.J. Valley

When
February 11, 8:30 PM PST to February 12, 11:00 AM PST
Where
E Central S.J. Valley forecast zone
Injuries
0 direct, 10 indirect
Property damage
$2.0 million
Reported by
Official NWS Observations

Dense Fog, Sw S.J. Valley

When
February 11, 8:30 PM PST to February 12, 11:00 AM PST
Where
Sw S.J. Valley forecast zone
Injuries
0 direct, 10 indirect
Property damage
$2.0 million
Reported by
Official NWS Observations

Dense Fog, Se S.J. Valley

When
February 11, 8:30 PM PST to February 12, 11:00 AM PST
Where
Se S.J. Valley forecast zone
Injuries
0 direct, 10 indirect
Property damage
$2.0 million
Reported by
Official NWS Observations

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 California in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in California, February 2008

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: 84884, 84885, 84886, 84887, 84897, 84898, 84912, 84906, 84907, 84914, 84915.