Name: Dense Fog in California, December 24, 2014
Start: 2014-12-24T12:00
End: 2014-12-24T12:30
Location: California

The toll

Deaths: 2
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $200,000
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 STO wrote it up.

Moist conditions from recent rains couple with light winds brought areas of dense fog to the Central Valley and into the adjacent foothills. This caused minor car accidents and travel delays, especially affecting holiday travelers. A small engine plane crash under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board is thought to have been related to reduced visibility from the fog.

Event by event

1 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.

Dense Fog, Motherlode/Camptonville to Groveland

When: December 24, 12:00 PM PST to 12:30 PM PST
Where: Motherlode/Camptonville to Groveland forecast zone
Deaths: 0 direct, 2 indirect
Property damage: $200,000
Reported by: Broadcast Media

A single engine plane (Cessna 172) crashed on a remote hillside between Gopher Flat Road and Amador Road, just north of Sutter Creek, in Amador County, CA. There were 2 adult male fatalities. The plane was flying from Gilroy, CA to Sutter Creek, CA. Foggy conditions were present at Auburn Airport to the north, between 11:55 PST and 13:15 PST. Reduced visibility down to around 2 miles was recorded at Columbia Airport to the south at 11:35 PST. The exact time of the crash is currently unknown, but Amador County deputies received reports of the downed plane just after noon.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Dense Fog, Motherlode/Camptonville to Groveland	2014-12-24	52	Male	Outside/Open Areas	Indirect
Dense Fog, Motherlode/Camptonville to Groveland	2014-12-24	27	Male	Outside/Open Areas	Indirect

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 2014 Every state in 2014 This day in weather history Warnings in California, December 2014

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: 546877.