Missouri, 2017

Dense Fog in Missouri, March 18, 2017

March 18, 2017 · NWS PAH · 6 events in 6 counties and zones

Along and southeast of a line from Cape Girardeau to Poplar Bluff, widespread dense fog reduced visibility to one-quarter mile or less during the early morning hours. The dense fog formed along a slow-moving cold front.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 6 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
6

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 PAH wrote it up.

Along and southeast of a line from Cape Girardeau to Poplar Bluff, widespread dense fog reduced visibility to one-quarter mile or less during the early morning hours. The dense fog formed along a slow-moving cold front. Drier northwest winds in the wake of the cold front dissipated the fog.

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 Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 18, 2:07 AM CST, 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 18, 2:07 AM CST, 53 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 18, 2:39 AM CST, 21 minutes before
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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.

Dense Fog, Cape Girardeau

When
March 18, 3:00 AM CST to 6:00 AM CST
Where
Cape Girardeau forecast zone
Reported by
ASOS
Coordinates
37.384, -89.684 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Scott

When
March 18, 3:00 AM CST to 6:00 AM CST
Where
Scott forecast zone
Reported by
ASOS
Coordinates
37.053, -89.568 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Butler

When
March 18, 3:00 AM CST to 6:00 AM CST
Where
Butler forecast zone
Reported by
ASOS
Coordinates
36.716, -90.407 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Stoddard

When
March 18, 3:00 AM CST to 6:00 AM CST
Where
Stoddard forecast zone
Reported by
ASOS
Coordinates
36.856, -89.944 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Mississippi

When
March 18, 3:00 AM CST to 7:00 AM CST
Where
Mississippi forecast zone
Reported by
ASOS
Coordinates
36.828, -89.291 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, New Madrid

When
March 18, 3:00 AM CST to 7:00 AM CST
Where
New Madrid forecast zone
Reported by
ASOS
Coordinates
36.595, -89.652 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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 Missouri in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Missouri, March 2017

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: 684546, 684547, 684548, 684549, 684550, 684551.