Despite the presence of a low pressure center being situated of the Southern California coast providing for some high clouds during much of the period, persistent dense fog impacted portions of the central San Joaquin Valley between Merced and Madera with the dense fog being more intermittent elsewhere in the San Joaquin Valley between the evening of January 14 and the morning of January 16. The…
Every event with a place to put it; 9 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
Despite the presence of a low pressure center being situated of the Southern California coast providing for some high clouds during much of the period, persistent dense fog impacted portions of the central San Joaquin Valley between Merced and Madera with the dense fog being more intermittent elsewhere in the San Joaquin Valley between the evening of January 14 and the morning of January 16. The fog finally dissipated by midday on January 16 as the offshore low provided for enough mixing to help dissipate the fog. The dense fog was at least partially responsible for a fatal accident involving three cars near Biola in Fresno County during the evening of January 14.
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 Jan 14, 1:46 PM PST, 1 hour 19 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Hanford CA 146 PM PST Fri Jan 14 2022 .SYNOPSIS... Slightly below average temperatures with cloudy conditions will persist through Monday. High pressure builds into the area by mid-week through the end of the 7 day period. This will allow for above average temperatures, chances of morning Tule fog, and continued dry conditions. && .DISCUSSION...As of this writing, low clouds with patchy dense fog linger in portions of the San Joaquin Valley, mainly in Fresno, Kings, and Tulare Counties. While visibility is expected to further improve as we progress through the remainder of this afternoon, it is quite possible that the low clouds may not dissipate in some areas for the remainder of the daylight hours. Thus, we have a challenging forecast in terms of fog in the short- term, including until Saturday morning. Latest satellite imagery shows high clouds spreading northward above Central California and off the coast, while stratus persists over much of our portion of the San Joaquin Valley. Expect additional increased mid-level and high clouds by Saturday afternoon, moving from the south, as a closed upper-level low currently offshore travels northward and will be centered off the coast of Southern California. These clouds could produce some very light showers in the mountain areas, mainly over Kern County. This low pressure system will continue to track northward and remain offshore until Monday morning, per latest high resolution guidance. Depending on how much cloud cover moves into our area, we may not get as foggy in the Central Valley over the weekend, or at least by Saturday night/Sunday morning. The low pressure system is forecast to open up and allow its associated trough to push inland by Monday night. There is still the possibility of increased cloud cover, with a slight chance of light showers or sprinkles returning, though once again mainly over the mountains, including in Kern County and into the Southern Sierra Nevada. Fog development cannot be ruled out, as the upper- level low may have little effect in terms of mixing. There is uncertainty regarding timing of cloud cover on the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, so it is difficult to say if we will get much fog in the Central Valley. Otherwise, mainly seasonal or slightly below average temperatures will prevail until next week with little or no precipitation for most locations. However, valley fog still remains a possibility, including for the latter part of next week. && .AVIATION... In the San Joaquin Valley, widespread MVFR in haze and mist with areas of LIFR/IFR in fog and ceilings redeveloping after 08Z Saturday. In the meantime, low stratus may persist or show little improvement at the TAF sites. Elsewhere, VFR conditions will prevail across the Central CA interior during the next 24 hours. && .AIR QUALITY ISSUES... On Friday January 14 2022... Unhealthy for sensitive groups in Fresno... Kern and Kings Counties. Fireplace/Wood Stove Burning Status is: No Burning Unless Registered in Kings... Madera... Merced and Tulare Counties. No Burning For All in Fresno and Kern Counties. Further information is available at Valleyair.org && .CERTAINTY... The level of certainty for days 1 and 2 is medium. The level of certainty for days 3 through 7 is medium. Certainty levels include low...medium...and high. Please visit www.weather.gov/hnx/certainty.html for additional information an/or to provide feedback. && .HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Dense Fog Advisory until 2 PM PST this afternoon for CAZ306- 310>312. && public...BSO aviation....Bollenbacher weather.gov/hanford
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HANFORD CA
921 AM PST FRI JAN 14 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0921 AM DENSE FOG 2 WNW SELMA 36.59N 119.64W
01/14/2022 FRESNO CA LAW ENFORCEMENT
NORTHBOUND SR 99 IS STOPPED AT MANNING
AVENUE DUE TO A MULTI-VEHICLE COLLISION.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
8 dense fog, 1 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.
Visibility below a quarter mile was reported in Visalia and Porterville. Several webcams showed visibility below 1000 feet.
Visibility below a quarter mile was reported in Atwater, Merced and Madera. Several webcams showed visibility below 1000 feet.
Several webcams showed visibility below 1000 feet. A collision involving three vehicles at the intersection of W. Shaw Ave. and W. Bishop Ave near Biola resulted in one fatality. Visibility was reported be below 100 feet at the time by California Highway Patrol.
Visibility below a quarter mile was reported in Hanford. Several webcams showed visibility below 1000 feet.
Visibility below a quarter mile was reported in Lemoore. Several webcams showed visibility below 1000 feet.
Visibility below a quarter mile was reported in Delano. Several webcams showed visibility below 1000 feet.
Visibility below a quarter mile was reported in Fresno. Several webcams showed visibility below 1000 feet.
Visibility below a quarter mile was reported in Bakersfield. Several webcams showed visibility below 1000 feet.
California Highway Patrol reported visibility below 1000 feet on SR 152 between Los Banos and the SR 59 exchange.
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, Caruthers - San Joaquin - Selma | 2022-01-14 | 60 | Male | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Indirect |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyWarnings in California, January 2022
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: 992589, 992584, 992591, 992592, 992585, 992587, 992586, 992590, 992669.