No Surprise: Dense Fog Advisory Up For Northern Vermont

Taylor Park in St. Albans this evening, as seen from the
Lake Street intersection with Main Street. You can 
barely make out the dude walking the dog there
on the sidewalk. A dense fog advisory is in effect.

 A late Thursday afternoon update on the murky weather in Vermont I described this morning. 

It's gotten worse since yesterday, if you ask me. The National Weather Service agrees.  

At around 4 p.m. today, the National Weather Service office in South Burlington has issued a dense fog advisory for northern and central Vermont through 10 a.m. Friday. 

The fog is thickest north of a weak nearly stationary weather front oriented roughly west to east across central Vermont. South of the front, it's cloudy and gloomy, but visibility isn't so bad. North of that front, it's been foggy all day. 

The fog has been really thick all day here in St. Albans, Vermont. I don't think I've ever seen a day that entirely consisted of dense fog. Sure, we get thick fog for a few hours on some occasions, but all day? I got up at 7 a.m. and visibility was about a quarter mile. It has stayed that way through 4:30 p.m. as I write this. 

My house has a great distant view of Lake Champlain. I haven't seen the lake since dusk on Tuesday. Almost makes you wonder if it's still there. 

At least as remarkably, starting at 9 a.m. yesterday the visibility in Burlington has been two miles or less, except for a two-hour period late last night when it was four miles. The fog was getting even thicker today as darkness fell, with visibility close to zero in some spots. 

The so-called view through my windshield this
afternoon on Fairfield Street in St. Albans, Vermont. 

I had to do some errands on the road today and the National Weather Service is right. The fog is dense enough that you really have to be careful while driving. 

With the even now thicker fog, you really need to be careful driving, especially on high speed highways like Interstates 89 and 91, or highways that have a lot of curves and hills that can hide surprises.  

If somebody has stopped in front of you, or cuts you off, you won't see it until it's too late if you drive at normal speeds. Drive way slower than usual if you're out on the roads this evening and overnight. 

Also, if you're flying in or out of the Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport, keep on eye on flight stats.

Some flights have already been diverted to other airports or canceled today and this evening. Flights later this evening were still listed as on time as of 5 p.m., but if the fog persists, that could easily change. 

Chances are the fog will start to get somewhat less dense through late morning and afternoon Friday, but it will stay murky. 

Bad visibility is routine on Vermont roads during the winter. But that is pretty much always due to heavy snow. A long fog attack like this one is new on me.