Tule Fog

(Nov. 23, fog warning, Accuweather.com-compare with image to the right)


It is the time of year when something very fascinating happens in the state of California: the Tule fog (pron.tool-ee)

Tule fog is a weather phenomenon named after the tule grass that grows in abundance throughout the Central Valley (seen right is satellite imagery of the Central Valley, covered by a blanket of Tule fog, the bar at top right equals 600 km.), and is caused by rapidly cooling overnight temperatures and moisture literally draining down from the Sierra Nevada mountains into the bowl-like valley. Without wind turbulance, the unique geography of the Central Valley prevents the dense fog from dispursing.


(image courtesy of the Web: Bakersfield, CA)

Underneath the Tule fog conditions are extremely low visibility, often less than 600 ft. ahead, and is an unavoidable hazard for motorists across the state. In fact, Tule fog is the leading weather related cause of fatalities in CA.


(photo by me, on my street this morning: Nov. 23, 2008)

So, right now the Valley is under a dense fog warning. If you can see in the photo above, the end of my street isn't really visible. But in my experience, the fog in my area is pretty light. It can be much, much worse! Growing up as a child I remember my father driving me early in the morning during my winter break, from my hometown, the Upper Boondocks, to visit my grandparents in the Boondocks, where I live today. The Tule fog was terrible every morning, and with the filitered early sunlight it made everything look blue. I felt as if I was living on the surface of another planet, like Neptune.

As an adult, I used to spend my evenings partying or just hanging out in the Upper Boondocks. In the evenings during the Tule fog season, as I stepped outside I felt as though zombies were about to step out of the fog. It was so thick, you couldn't view the other side of the street. It's very spooky stuff!


(photo courtesy of the Web, from Antioch, CA)

Underneath all that stuff are cities and farms, people, and ZOMBIES!


(photo by me, this morning, looking towards the sky-I could see the moon)

In this photo, you might be seeing snow, but that's an illusion. The air was so thick with moisture this morning, that when the flash of the camera went off, all the little beads of moisture that were hanging around lit up and appeared out of focus, creating the "snow" effect.