Seattle's 'fog storm' finally about to lift
SEATTLE -- It's not too uncommon for Mt. Rainier to disappear from view for days during Seattle's winter rainy season, but Queen Anne Hill?
Seattle has spent a full week with dense fog at times -- defined as 1/4 mile visibility or less -- courtesy of strong ridge of high pressure that created a monster inversion over much of the Puget Sound region.
The 7-day streak ties for the fifth longest all time (although well behind the "epic fog storm" of December 1985 when the city had 13 straight days with dense fog at some point.)
But what makes this stretch so memorable is not just dense fog for a few hours each morning, but for days on end with no relief in sight (or much else, for that matter.)
At one point during our week of fog, Seattle had a stretch of 80 consecutive hours Thursday through Sunday with fog at 1/2 mile visibility or less. The "break" in the fog lasted just 5 hours, and a new fog layer moved in Sunday evening.
That layer was even thicker, rattling off another 36+ hours of dense fog -- this time 1/4 mile or less of visibility.
But if you're tired of fog horns, missing hillsides, and not being able to tell what color the traffic light is more than a half-block away, we have some good news:
The rain is coming back.
I know for sun fans, that's like saying: "Hey, we're finally are going to fix that leaky faucet, but you won't have any hot water," but for those with respiratory issues and heating challenges, it'll be nice to clean the air and get rid of the burn bans. The fact that we might rediscover Kitsap County is an added bonus.
The rain will hold off until late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning, but we should start getting some light breezes ahead of the rain to start mixing up the lower levels of the atmosphere and scour out the fog sometime Tuesday afternoon.
When that happens, not only will it clear up, but it will warm up fairly rapidly. The great secret for those who have been trapped in the 35 degree fog all these days is that it has been pretty warm outside the fog -- temperatures in the 50s have been common for days on the coast and up in the high hills. That warm air will mix in to where the foggy 30s of Tuesday morning and midday will become the cloudy 40s or low 50s Thursday evening -- and night!
More routine Seattle-esque rain will be around at times for the rest of the week and weekend. It'll finally mean goodbye to the fog.... and hello to Bainbridge Island.
Seattle has spent a full week with dense fog at times -- defined as 1/4 mile visibility or less -- courtesy of strong ridge of high pressure that created a monster inversion over much of the Puget Sound region.
The 7-day streak ties for the fifth longest all time (although well behind the "epic fog storm" of December 1985 when the city had 13 straight days with dense fog at some point.)
But what makes this stretch so memorable is not just dense fog for a few hours each morning, but for days on end with no relief in sight (or much else, for that matter.)
At one point during our week of fog, Seattle had a stretch of 80 consecutive hours Thursday through Sunday with fog at 1/2 mile visibility or less. The "break" in the fog lasted just 5 hours, and a new fog layer moved in Sunday evening.
That layer was even thicker, rattling off another 36+ hours of dense fog -- this time 1/4 mile or less of visibility.
But if you're tired of fog horns, missing hillsides, and not being able to tell what color the traffic light is more than a half-block away, we have some good news:
The rain is coming back.
I know for sun fans, that's like saying: "Hey, we're finally are going to fix that leaky faucet, but you won't have any hot water," but for those with respiratory issues and heating challenges, it'll be nice to clean the air and get rid of the burn bans. The fact that we might rediscover Kitsap County is an added bonus.
The rain will hold off until late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning, but we should start getting some light breezes ahead of the rain to start mixing up the lower levels of the atmosphere and scour out the fog sometime Tuesday afternoon.
When that happens, not only will it clear up, but it will warm up fairly rapidly. The great secret for those who have been trapped in the 35 degree fog all these days is that it has been pretty warm outside the fog -- temperatures in the 50s have been common for days on the coast and up in the high hills. That warm air will mix in to where the foggy 30s of Tuesday morning and midday will become the cloudy 40s or low 50s Thursday evening -- and night!
More routine Seattle-esque rain will be around at times for the rest of the week and weekend. It'll finally mean goodbye to the fog.... and hello to Bainbridge Island.
Living in Mukilteo I'm sick of the fog every day for the last week, wasn't it around this time last year we had a good snow storm? Time for a change
As much as I'm ready for the change, I'm just glad it wasn't a repeat of what we had last year!!!
I love fog. The lighting on my street compliments it well.
I never thought I'd be happy for the rain...no more fog in Shelton right now...just clouds...yes!
Question: When driving through the fog, what should you use? - - - - Answer: Your car! (I had some other jokes but they were a little (a lot) on the risque side!)
Only in this area do people prefer rain to fog, lol.
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How about some freaking sunshine?Â
 @lakeview Oh, no don't push it...Sunshine? Now you've gone and done it, we'll have a blizzard in March for sure!
 @lakeview Because with sun this time of year, you get cold! ANd I think we're all tired of it being that cold. Let the warm up begin!!!
I for one am looking forward to firing my bbq up. A nice slab of red meat, couple of cold ones, and maybe some more cold ones! I haven't used it since the air stag. warnings went up, so 40 degrees is just fine with me. Short sleeve weather!
OMG it is about time... I just watched 'The FOG' the other night and started worrying some massive bugs were going to start attacking everyone if we stayed in this soup any longer!
 @Freespeech I was worried about pirates and strange noises
That analogy was perfect. Â But it still doesn't make the idea of going from a week of freezing fog back into rain, any better. Â Grateful we haven't had any ice storms yet. But man.. what a yucky winter and fall it's been.Â
FINALLY!! The one thing I hate worse than the rain.........Â
 @Longhairedvixen Haha. Seriously! Â
i just thought it was marijuana smoke... learn something everyday
 @futhi151 LOL! Yeah that was my joke too!
I remember back in 1982...it was so foggy driving down hwy 167 that I couldn't hardly see the next line on the road! Now that was thick fog!Â
Based on how thick that stuff got this morning between 6 AM and now (8 AM), you would think that this article is a joke. I'll believe it when I sere it.
They just put up a "freezing drizzle" warning on the weather tab... can we just call that frizzle? For shizzle my nizzle.
 @Scoondog Lol.  "freezing drizzle" just one more way the weather torments Seattlites. Â
Did Seattle become Silent Hill? Are we going to have to worry about Pyramid Head, demon dogs and bobble head nurses?
I am so tired of the news crying about dirty air. If it was like this all winter then they could say something. We rarely get this kind of inversion so get over it. If people are that ill then move to Arizona.
 @Thepriest Well then I hope we don't have to hear you complain when you have breathing problems and we have this kind of system for well over a week. I'm guessing you don't wanna be a hypocrite, right?
 @Thepriest Really?  Tell that to the person writing this comment who threw up on herself after fits of coughing.  It's real fun, let me tell you.
 @Thepriest If you had a respiratory illness, you would think otherwise.  Let me guess, you watch Fox News, right?  Dirty air is good, climate change is a hoax. Right?
At least Seattle and most of the rest of the sound got a 5 hour break on Sunday. North Everett and S. Marysville never got that 5 hour break. Claustrophonia inducing almost..
the end of the world is near
So here comes the crappy Seattle real weather..................RAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 @reelin21 You do have a choice if you don't like the weather:  aisle or window?
The fog was super dense this morning in Tacoma. I thought I was going to miss my exit on I5. You were lucky to see about 2 street lights beyond where you were driving. I'll take the rain over fog anyday.
I rather enjoyed it. Hard for Puget Sound Clean Air Agency to enforce a burn ban when they can't see their hand in front of their face.
Good, I'm done with the fog. We were just commenting yesterday on how it has never lasted all day and night before that we cold remember. Apparently it did happen in '85, but I don't recall it . And I like the analogy. What's a little rain?