After several days of precipitation across the area, skies cleared out during the evening of December 2 and early morning of December 3. The clearing skies and diminished winds resulted in the first day of the season with widespread dense fog in the San Joaquin Valley where visibility was reduced to below a quarter mile.
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.
The episode as NWS HNX wrote it up.
After several days of precipitation across the area, skies cleared out during the evening of December 2 and early morning of December 3. The clearing skies and diminished winds resulted in the first day of the season with widespread dense fog in the San Joaquin Valley where visibility was reduced to below a quarter mile. Traffic was paced along State Route 99 between Tulare and Delano during the morning commute, and several school districts had fog related delayed openings for the first time this season. The fog lifted by late morning, and the low level moisture in the valley mixed out the following day as a another storm moved through the area.
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 Dec 2, 4:35 PM PST, 9 hours 20 minutes earlier.
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</html>6 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.
Visibility below a quarter mile was reported in Fresno and Reedley. A two vehicle collision took place in dense fog on south bound Golden State Blvd. near the intersection of Chestnut Ave.
Visibility below a quarter mile was reported in Visalia. California Highway Patrol was pacing traffic on SR 99 between Tulare and Delano between 0608 PST and 1000 PST. Several school districts had delayed openings due to fog.
Visibility below a quarter mile was reported in Hanford.
Visibility below a quarter mile was reported in Madera. Visibility of 250 feet was reported on SR 41 over the San Joaquin River near Madera Ranchos.
Visibility below a quarter mile was reported in Lemoore.
Visibility below a quarter mile was reported in Delano.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in California, December 2019
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: 858728, 858729, 858727, 858725, 858726, 858730.