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> The general consensus among the small cadre of scientists who study coastal fog is that it is decreasing, not just in California, but around the world. It’s

> The general consensus among the small cadre of scientists who study coastal fog is that it is decreasing, not just in California, but around the world. It’s true. The last time I saw thick fog in the city, the kind where you almost had to pull your car over because there was a chance you might hit another car, was 1989.

boringg 4y ago
Fogust seemed to be getting lighter when I was living there as well. Anecdotal but noticeable.
prpl 4y ago
we would get it in the Richmond. The thickest fog in the bay area right I know if is always around Skyline between Westmoore and Hickey - it still gets that thick there.
spike021 4y ago
You should visit Daly City; Skyline (35) still gets shrouded in fog fairly often.
- fennecfoxen 4y ago
  Also, if you miss the fog, both Skyline and US-1 in that part of the world are absolutely gorgeous.
dekhn 4y ago
I had a nice view from UCSF 1995-2001. Fog came in full and thick nearly every day. When I drive from San Mateo to South SF I frequently see a large offshore flow causing massive fog at Mt San Bruno. Any possibility your data is mainly anecdotal?
- bartread 4y ago
  Concur: I spent perhaps 10 days in the city in 1995 split into two blocks at end of June and beginning of September. Definitely foggy on multiple days, especially over towards Golden Gate Park and the bridge.
- BoorishBears 4y ago
  If we're going by anecdotes... when I came to this city I was told thick blinding fog is a daily occurrence, but I was here a good week or two before the "real" fog came in, and while fog does come often, that honestly doesn't come often. Maybe 3 times a week. I classify "real" fog as days where I go from being able to see half of SF and even a bit of Alameda... to not seeing the houses a block down from my balcony. I'll admit it's impressive and straight up disorienting sometimes, (looking out at what was a skyline 20 minutes before and seeing nothing but grey), but if the locals' anecdotes about how often it used to happen are even somewhat accurate, it sounds like it's on the decline.
  - dekhn 4y ago
    It's not daily- there is more like a cycle caused by changes in offshore flow and temps in the inland valleys. I'd see a week without any fog, then a two weeks of in-and-out fog, then a week of total fog, including times when I couldn't see more than a few avenues towards sunset, or the park looked like some misty dream.
vorador 4y ago
This must depend on where you live in the city – just yesterday we had massive fog in the morning and at night in the sunset.
- Hermitian909 4y ago
  While the sunset is foggier than the rest of the city I can confirm nothing in the past few days comes even close to what used to be considered "dense fog" for SF. I remember walking in fog like that and not hearing even fairly loud cars till they were almost right on top of me because of how noise-dampening the fog was.
arethuza 4y ago
We still get haar a lot here in Scotland - its very common on the Firth of Forth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haar_(fog) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haar_(fog) Edit: I have no idea whether haar occurs more or less frequently - I moved to a spot where it is very visible a few years back so it certainly looks more common to me!
renewiltord 4y ago
Happened last year in Ingleside Terraces. Could barely see the curb.
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acchow 4y ago
I heard most of the city used to be very foggy for months on end. But now most of the city is sunny all year round before noon till early afternoon (about 11am-3pm) except maybe parts of outer sunset and outer richmond. In Bayview, fog doesn't even usually roll in until after 10pm (except in July)
- lambdasquirrel 4y ago
  This is true. I've lived in the Bay Area since '05, and have met many people who were there since the 80's and 90's. Actually, I think most of them have left. But by the mid 2010's, many of them would comment on how unusual it was that the fog just wasn't rolling in anymore. One person I knew was sensitive to certain allergies that would become markedly worse without the fog. So she knew. It isn't just SF proper. Along the peninsula, on Highway 35, the fog used to be so thick you couldn't see more than 30 ft in front of you – maybe even 10 ft some days, and especially in the evening. I lived in those mountains around the 2006-2007 timeframe, and it was fun to drive down the 35 by memory (at least if you were an indestructible-feeling 20-something), since it wasn't possible to see down the road for any safe distance. Nowadays, there might be fog, but it's invariably "safe."
  - whiplash451 4y ago
    Another bit of history. The first navigators kept passing by the bay for years because they could not see the bay from the sea due to the fog. This is why people settled in SF later than in other places in the region. So, the fog was probably damn thick at the time.
    - Melatonic 4y ago
      And from what I remember Skyline drive was the original way to go north and south on the peninsula (dirt road)
      - aerostable_slug 4y ago
        No telling stories about how great the Lucky Penny was.
Ericson2314 4y ago
One of the guesses in the article was less pollution to form smog eith. That feels right to me.

boringg 4y ago

Fogust seemed to be getting lighter when I was living there as well. Anecdotal but noticeable.

prpl 4y ago

we would get it in the Richmond. The thickest fog in the bay area right I know if is always around Skyline between Westmoore and Hickey - it still gets that thick there.

spike021 4y ago

You should visit Daly City; Skyline (35) still gets shrouded in fog fairly often.

fennecfoxen 4y ago
Also, if you miss the fog, both Skyline and US-1 in that part of the world are absolutely gorgeous.

dekhn 4y ago

I had a nice view from UCSF 1995-2001. Fog came in full and thick nearly every day. When I drive from San Mateo to South SF I frequently see a large offshore flow causing massive fog at Mt San Bruno. Any possibility your data is mainly anecdotal?

bartread 4y ago
Concur: I spent perhaps 10 days in the city in 1995 split into two blocks at end of June and beginning of September. Definitely foggy on multiple days, especially over towards Golden Gate Park and the bridge.
BoorishBears 4y ago
If we're going by anecdotes... when I came to this city I was told thick blinding fog is a daily occurrence, but I was here a good week or two before the "real" fog came in, and while fog does come often, that honestly doesn't come often. Maybe 3 times a week. I classify "real" fog as days where I go from being able to see half of SF and even a bit of Alameda... to not seeing the houses a block down from my balcony. I'll admit it's impressive and straight up disorienting sometimes, (looking out at what was a skyline 20 minutes before and seeing nothing but grey), but if the locals' anecdotes about how often it used to happen are even somewhat accurate, it sounds like it's on the decline.
- dekhn 4y ago
  It's not daily- there is more like a cycle caused by changes in offshore flow and temps in the inland valleys. I'd see a week without any fog, then a two weeks of in-and-out fog, then a week of total fog, including times when I couldn't see more than a few avenues towards sunset, or the park looked like some misty dream.

vorador 4y ago

This must depend on where you live in the city – just yesterday we had massive fog in the morning and at night in the sunset.

Hermitian909 4y ago
While the sunset is foggier than the rest of the city I can confirm nothing in the past few days comes even close to what used to be considered "dense fog" for SF. I remember walking in fog like that and not hearing even fairly loud cars till they were almost right on top of me because of how noise-dampening the fog was.

arethuza 4y ago

We still get haar a lot here in Scotland - its very common on the Firth of Forth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haar_(fog) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haar_(fog) Edit: I have no idea whether haar occurs more or less frequently - I moved to a spot where it is very visible a few years back so it certainly looks more common to me!

renewiltord 4y ago

Happened last year in Ingleside Terraces. Could barely see the curb.

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acchow 4y ago

I heard most of the city used to be very foggy for months on end. But now most of the city is sunny all year round before noon till early afternoon (about 11am-3pm) except maybe parts of outer sunset and outer richmond. In Bayview, fog doesn't even usually roll in until after 10pm (except in July)

lambdasquirrel 4y ago
This is true. I've lived in the Bay Area since '05, and have met many people who were there since the 80's and 90's. Actually, I think most of them have left. But by the mid 2010's, many of them would comment on how unusual it was that the fog just wasn't rolling in anymore. One person I knew was sensitive to certain allergies that would become markedly worse without the fog. So she knew. It isn't just SF proper. Along the peninsula, on Highway 35, the fog used to be so thick you couldn't see more than 30 ft in front of you – maybe even 10 ft some days, and especially in the evening. I lived in those mountains around the 2006-2007 timeframe, and it was fun to drive down the 35 by memory (at least if you were an indestructible-feeling 20-something), since it wasn't possible to see down the road for any safe distance. Nowadays, there might be fog, but it's invariably "safe."
- whiplash451 4y ago
  Another bit of history. The first navigators kept passing by the bay for years because they could not see the bay from the sea due to the fog. This is why people settled in SF later than in other places in the region. So, the fog was probably damn thick at the time.
  - Melatonic 4y ago
    And from what I remember Skyline drive was the original way to go north and south on the peninsula (dirt road)
    - aerostable_slug 4y ago
      No telling stories about how great the Lucky Penny was.

Ericson2314 4y ago

One of the guesses in the article was less pollution to form smog eith. That feels right to me.