SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The winter storm that caused days of valley rain and feet of mountain snow has finally exited the region.
Although the storm is gone, its effects will still be felt, especially in the Central Valley. Clear skies, saturated soils and high relative humidity values will set the stage for the Central Valley's infamous tule fog to make its first appearance of the season. Tule fog is a very dense, soupy variation of radiation fog that forms in the Central Valley following wet weather.
The American Meteorological Society defines fog as water droplets suspended in the atmosphere in the vicinity the earth's surface that affect visibility. This occurs when the temperature reaches the dewpoint which is highly likely in the valley for the rest of the week due to rapidly cooling nighttime temperatures and high moisture content in the air.
The National Weather Service has issued a dense fog advisory overnight into tomorrow morning for the San Joaquin Valley, including Lodi, Stockton and Modesto. Areas north of Lodi up to Chico can expect patchy fog before it burns off later in the morning. Those affected by the fog on their morning commute can expect reduced visibility, so slow down and use low beams.
Research done by UC Berkeley has shown that from 1980 to 2016, tule fog in the Central Valley decreased by 76% after increasing by 85% from 1930 to 1970. Tule fog has been on the decrease in recent years for a couple reasons, including a drying, warming climate, more concrete covered land and decreased pollution levels thanks to cleaner car emissions.
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