28 September, 20127:58 a.m.
The National Weather Service has issued a dense fog advisory until 9 a.m. for 12 counties in southern Kansas, including the Wichita metropolitan area.
Visibility was generally a quarter-mile or less, with some spots down to near zero, meteorologists said. A Sedgwick County dispatcher said only one accident had been reported by 7:20 a.m., but that changed within minutes as the morning commute grew in intensity.
Recent rains and little to no wind set the stage for the fog to develop. Fog could again be an issue late tonight and early Saturday, forecasters say.
For more information on current conditions, go to our weather page.
The National Weather Service has issued a dense fog advisory until 10 a.m. for 14 counties in southern and southeast Kansas, including the Wichita metropolitan area.
Visibilities could drop to a quarter-mile or less. “Drivers should use extreme caution,” the agency warns in a statement.
The fog is gradually moving north, meaning south Wichita will see thick fog before the north side of the city does.
The counties included in the advisory are Reno, Harvey, Butler, Kingman, Sedgwick, Harper, Sumner, Cowley, Elk, Wilson, Neosho, Chautauqua, Montgomery and Labette.
The National Weather Service has issued a dense fog advisory until 11 a.m. for 13 counties in central and south-central Kansas. The city of Wichita is included in the advisory.
Visibility is down to a few car lengths in northwest Sedgwick County, and Medicine Lodge is delaying classes for two hours due to thick fog in Barber County.
Other counties included in the advisory are generally along and west of I-135: Russell, Lincoln, Barton, Ellsworth, Saline, Rice, McPherson, Reno, Harvey, Kingman and Sumner.
2 February, 20104:27 p.m.
The National Weather Service has issued a freezing fog advisory for 26 counties in central and southeast Kansas, including the Wichita metropolitan area.
The advisory stretches from 9 p.m. today to 10 a.m. Wednesday. Streets and bridges could become glazed with ice – particularly elevated portions – as a result of the fog, forecasters warn.
“Roadways will become very slick tonight,” the advisory warns.
Visibility could be reduced to less than a quarter-mile at times during the advisory.
I’m told the abundant sunshine this afternoon in the Wichita area is likely to delay the onset of the fog until late tonight or even early Wednesday morning, but the advisory was set to begin at 9 p.m. as a precaution.
18 January, 20103:29 p.m.
As if eastern Kansas hasn’t had enough of the gray soup, the National Weather Service has already issued a dense fog advisory for 18 counties in southern and central Kansas effective from 9 p.m. today until noon on Tuesday.
The advisory includes the Wichita metropolitan area. Visibility will drop to a quarter-mile or less at times in the warned area.
Thick fog has shrouded the region most of the day today. For more information on current conditions, go to our weather page.
14 January, 20107:24 a.m.
Visibility could be down to near zero at times this morning thanks to dense fog that has settled over southern Kansas, including the Wichita metropolitan area.
The National Weather Service has issued a dense fog advisory until 10 a.m. for 11 counties in southern Kansas, including Sedgwick, Harvey, Butler, Reno, Harper, Kingman and Sumner counties.
The fog will be at its worst along the Kansas Turnpike, which is bad news for drivers. Freezing fog will not be a threat because the temperature is in the upper 30s.
Once the fog lifts, forecasters say, the day will be cloudy with spats of drizzle. Highs should reach the mid-40s.
Clouds should persist overnight, with lows in the upper 20s. Friday should be sunny, with highs in the low 40s.
13 January, 20102:14 p.m.
Julia Beedles sent this photograph of the frozen fog’s handiwork Tuesday morning.
Mike Smith of WeatherData sent several photographs via his blog, Meteorological Musings. Here’s one of them.
In case you missed it, we put together a photo gallery of images captured by Eagle photographers.
Here’s a gallery of reader-submitted photographs for your viewing pleasure as well.
12 January, 201011:46 a.m.
Trees throughout the metropolitan area are aglaze with ice crystals this morning, as a hearty layer of hoarfrost has coated the region.
“It’s so moist out there and it’s just cold enough we’re getting ice crystal formation,” said Andy Kleinsasser, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “It seems a few times a winter we get really good hoarfrost.”
It takes a pretty narrow set of conditions for hoarfrost to form, Kleinsasser said: temperatures of 20 to 25 or less, a high relative humidity, a thick fog and no wind. That creates an environment for the moist air to form ice crystals on small elevated surfaces such as branches, blades of grass and telephone wires.
Hoarfrost is often called “furry ice” because of its appearance. It is not frozen dew, however.
The dense fog and little to no wind are key, Kleinsasser said, because the air has to be moist enough and still enough for the ice crystals to form.
View a photo gallery of the hoarfrost in the Wichita area here.
Readers have sent photos they have taken of the hoarfrost, too.
If you have photos you’d like to share, submit them here.
For more information on weather conditions, go to our weather page.
12 January, 20107:13 a.m.
A freezing fog advisory is in effect until 9 a.m. for a dozen counties in central and southern Kansas, including the Wichita metropolitan area.
The National Weather Service warns that visibility could drop to less than a quarter-mile, and that elevated surfaces could become slick as a result of the freezing fog.
Among the cities included in the advisory area are Russell, Lincoln, Great Bend, Ellsworth, Salina, McPherson, Newton, El Dorado and Augusta.
The fog should lift after 9 a.m., forecasters say, and then skies will clear as the temperature climbs into the low 40s. Southerly winds should stay primarily in single digits.
It will remain clear overnight as lows dip into the mid-20s, and Wednesday should see more sunshine, southerly breezes and highs topping 50. Those winds will be stronger than today, with steady breezes in the teens and gusts of more than 25 miles an hour.
For more weather information, go to our weather page.