Dense Fog in California, February 11 to 14, 2015

After the rain that occurred in the San Joaquin Valley on February 5-8, 2015, stable conditions developed under a ridge of high pressure resulting in dense fog development. The fog developed after 1 am on February 11, 2015 and became dense with visibility less than 1000 feet, especially along parts of Highway 41 and Highway 99 in Kings and Fresno counties. The fog lifted after 10 am on February 11, but redeveloped shortly after midnight in February 12. The densest fog occurred around sunrise, and impacted the areas from Corcoran to Fresno, along Highways 41, 43, and 99, with numerous schools reporting bus delays due to the fog. There was also dense fog in the Merced area on the morning of February 12. As stable conditions continued, dense fog once again developed during the early morning hours of Friday, February 13, 2015. On this morning, the dense fog was more widespread, but was farther west than previous nights, generally staying west of Highway 99, but extending from west of Merced southward through the center of the San Joaquin Valley to Hanford and Corcoran. The densest fog occurred west of Fresno with several traffic accidents with unknown injuries reported. This fog pattern repeated on the morning of Saturday, February 14, 2015.