Talk:Tule fog

Formation details could be expanded

Schoenherr's A Natural History of California has more information about the formation of tule fog. It notes (p. 42) that the tule fog is a temperature inversion layer. It is formed when cold mountain air flows downslope into the valley during the night, pooling in the low areas until it fills the valley to the "brim" formed by the Coast Ranges and the Sierra Nevada. This occurs because most areas in the Great Central Valley have little or no air drainage below the level of mountain passes. Because of the density of the cold air in the winter, winds are not able to dislodge the fog and the high pressure of the warmer air above the mountaintops presses down on the cold air trapped in the valley, resulting in a dense, immobile fog that can last for days undisturbed. During the summer, the sun is warmer and better able to burn off the fog.

Edit needed above. The warmer air capping the inversion is not high pressure. By definition, warmer air is lower pressure. The wiki page for Inversions says as much. Perhaps I'm oversimplifying but I think this begs for clarification. 204.214.63.59 (talk) 17:26, 29 January 2010 (UTC)

Besides traffic problems, another big problem associated with the tule fog is that the density of air at the inversion layer traps pollutants below it, leading to poor air quality and the formation of photochemical smog. This is particularly concerning because the source of the pollutants includes not only exhaust gases, but a host of other chemical compounds sprayed as fertilizers and pesticides by the Valley's argicultural industries. This pollution is a major contributor to the large number of "bad air days" and the high incidences of asthma and other respiratory illnesses in Central Valley communities such as Bakersfield. Mike Dillon 16:04, September 4, 2005 (UTC)

The reference info for Schoenherr's book is: A Natural History of California, pp. 42, 518, 522. Allan A. Schoenherr. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1995. ISBN 0-520-06922-6 (paperback). Mike Dillon 16:07, September 4, 2005 (UTC)

Tule fog or Tule Fog?

To me, Tule Fog is a proper noun—that is, it is a specific type of fog called the Tule Fog (and not a fog called Tule)—and so it should be fully capitalized. This is the same as, for example, Caspian Sea and not Caspian sea. BlankVerse ∅ 16:27, 4 September 2005 (UTC)

I think it should be "tule fog". I'm partially going off of Schoenherr (who never capitalizes it) and partially off of the Google results for "tule fog" (which are a mix tending toward lowercase). For me, it is more akin to "sedge marsh" than "Capsian Sea": "tule fog" is a fog associated with "tule marshes". I guess I could see it being like "London Fog", though. The word "tule" definitely should not be capitalized on its own, since unlike "Caspian", it isn't a proper name, but the name of a plant. Mike Dillon 19:07, September 4, 2005 (UTC)

Either Tule fog or tule fog. I know a plant isn't a proper noun. And I'm sorry about fixing the spacing. Lately, I've been cutting open spaces here on wiki. Look at the USD article. --fpo 19:31, September 4, 2005 (UTC)

Requested copyright examination

I have put in a request Wikipedia:Requested copyright examinations. I had a question about this image [1]]. The website ([2]) allows any educational use, but "not for any direct or indirect commercial purpose or advantage." To me this reads very similar to the policy at the Smithsonian Institute, and we allow use of their images.

The image itself is from United States National Weather Service Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, but has been modified with some labels. The other choice would be to take one of the unmodified GOES images from the same website and add my own labels.

BTW: The webpage that it is from ([3]—which I've added to the Tule Fog External links) will tell you more than you'd ever want to know about Tule Fog. BlankVerse ∅ 10:28, 5 September 2005 (UTC)

Photo

That photo is a terrible example of tule fog. Visibility in that picture is too good to allow wikipedia users to get a real feel for how thick tule fog can be. I've got better ones taken here in Hanford, CA. Just don't know how to get it to you guys.

Agreed, the area between SR99, SR198, and SR43 usually has the thickest fog during fall and winter months. I remembered driving from Fresno to Hanford on SR43 one January morning and the visibility was probably 100ft or lower. This area was once the former Tulare Lake, the lowest point on the Southern San Joaquin Valley. No wonder the fog is so thick in this area. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.68.111.126 (talk) 18:52, 18 January 2011 (UTC)

Smell?

Just wondering, does the fog smell elsewhere like it does between Sacramento and Stockton? Dgary 16:49, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

I have lived here (Exeter/Fresno) all my life and have never noticed a smell. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.236.42.146 (talk) 00:08, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Yes, the bovine fragrance stretches all the way down to at least Merced. The dairies between Merced and Stockton are the source of that choking, hideous quality of the Tule fog. In Merced, at least, "Tule Fog" is pronounced similarly to an expletive. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.170.62.95 (talk) 18:07, 18 January 2010 (UTC)

The damp, churned soil of dairies does help produce thick tule fog, and tends to carry the smell of the cows with it, but any damp ground can produce fog, so it's not a particularly unique feature. Sχeptomaniac^{χαιρετε} 23:02, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

Origin of the name

I believe the name, Tule Fog, comes from the Tule river. The Tule river itself comes from the vegetation that is described here. Also, I believe the formation details need to be thought through since, having grown up on the banks of the Tule river (quit literally), I know that the fog forms from the river outward. Not sure why, but I've seen it happen too many times to doubt my own memory. 21 December 2008 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.175.156.252 (talk) 02:55, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

California's rainy season?

In my experience, California's rainy season is winter and spring, not fall and winter. But I haven't ever lived in the Central Valley; maybe it's different there. If it is, shouldn't it say the Central Valley's rainy season rather than California's rainy season? --Trovatore (talk) 03:28, 23 January 2009 (UTC)

File:Tule Fog California - 2005.jpg to appear as POTD

Hello! This is a note to let the editors of this article know that File:Tule Fog California - 2005.jpg will be appearing as picture of the day on March 30, 2015. You can view and edit the POTD blurb at Template:POTD/2015-03-30. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page. Thanks! — Crisco 1492 (talk) 01:23, 10 March 2015 (UTC)

Picture of the day

Tule fog is a thick ground fog that settles in the San Joaquin Valley and Sacramento Valley areas of California's Great Central Valley during the state's rainy season. It forms when there is a high relative humidity (typically after a heavy rain), calm winds, and rapid cooling during the night, and is typically confined to the Great Central Valley region by the surrounding mountain ranges. Tule fog, a low cloud usually below 2,000 feet (610 m) in altitude, is highly immobile and can last for weeks if undisturbed. This fog is the leading cause of weather-related deaths in California.Photograph: Jeff Schmaltz/NASA

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Wiki Education assignment: California Natural History

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 24 August 2022 and 2 December 2022. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Chocolat cake, Mns4al (article contribs).

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