NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 1216 AM CDT TUE MAY 8 2012 ...DENSE FOG ESPECIALLY NEAR LAKE MICHIGAN TONIGHT... .LIGHT WINDS AND CLEARING SKIES HAVE ALLOWED DENSE FOG TO DEVELOP ACROSS MUCH OF NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA...WITH DENSE FOG ALSO PUSHING INLAND FROM LAKE MICHIGAN. DENSE FOG WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MUCH OF THE OVERNIGHT BUT VISIBILITY MAY START TO IMPROVE FROM WEST TO EAST BY AROUND DAYBREAK AS WESTERLY WINDS INCREASE SLIGHTLY. ILZ006-014-INZ001-002-081300- /O.CON.KLOT.FG.Y.0013.000000T0000Z-120508T1300Z/ LAKE IL-COOK-LAKE IN-PORTER- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...WAUKEGAN...CHICAGO...GARY...VALPARAISO 1216 AM CDT TUE MAY 8 2012 ...DENSE FOG ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 AM CDT THIS MORNING... * VISIBILITY...LESS THAN A QUARTER MILE IN SOME LOCATIONS ESPECIALLY NEAR LAKE MICHIGAN. * IMPACTS...VISIBILITY MAY CHANGE RAPIDLY OVER SHORT DISTANCES MAKING TRAVEL HAZARDOUS. VISIBILITY MAY BE NEAR ZERO AT TIMES ALONG THE LAKE MICHIGAN SHORE. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A DENSE FOG ADVISORY MEANS VISIBILITIES WILL FREQUENTLY BE REDUCED TO LESS THAN ONE QUARTER MILE. IF DRIVING...SLOW DOWN... USE YOUR HEADLIGHTS...AND LEAVE PLENTY OF DISTANCE AHEAD OF YOU.
Berkeley: In the Fog
Buena Avenue, at McGee Avenue. It’s been foggy here the last couple of mornings (and again today). Last night the fog came back in just after dark. Pretty dramatic. After dinner, “The Colbert Report,” the 10 o’clock news, and walking The Dog, I went out to try take some pictures around the neighborhood. Slideshow to come.
Berkeley Journal: December Morning
More than a day of a sort of strange, dripping-down rain. It reminded me of a long-ago hitch-hiking trip down the coast side of the Olympic Peninsula in the middle of winter, but warmer, and with no rain forest. Kate drove off to work in the fog. I went outside to snap a couple of pictures and ran into a couple of neighbors. All of us had some variation on the same thing to say: “What a beautiful morning.” Gray. Foggy. Drippy. And yes, beautiful.
Bay Area August: Departures from Normal
Saturday and Sunday were actually sunny here, for the most part. Off to the west Sunday night, Venus was visible well after dark–the first time I’ve seen that in weeks. Not that this signals a break in our marathon summer fogfest. The forecast for the next week calls for more of what we’ve been having for weeks along the coast: cool, mostly gray days that might give way to an hour or two of honest sunshine. Highs in the low to mid 60s. (This is not a complaint. Our air-conditioning bills here: zero.)
The map below is something that my friend Pete pointed me to a couple weeks ago. It’s from the Western Regional Climate Center and is a quick take on how much our daily high temperatures have departed from normal. There’s a tiny wedge just north of San Francisco–Point Reyes–where daily maximums have been more than 10 degrees lower than average. Here in Berkeley, highs have been 6 to 8 degrees below normal, and that’s pretty much the story for most of the rest of region. 
Summertime
From the National Weather Service Area Forecast Discussion earlier this evening
As of 8:54 p.m. PDT Thursday … another summer day comes to a close along the Central California coast. Keeping with the trend … afternoon highs were slightly below normal once again. Stratus continues to be banked up along the coast and starting to push into the bays and inland valleys. Profiler network and 00z Oakland sounding from this evening indicate the marine inversion varying from north to south 1500-2000 ft. Local onshore flow (SFO-SAC) maxing out once again above +4.0 mb with strong winds blowing through San Francisco Bay and the West Delta. Tomorrow should to be very similar to today … with widespread stratus coverage during the morning then burning back to the coast by midday. Localized areas of drizzle can be expected as well.
What’s all that mean? It’s gray, foggy and cool here. This week, we could sell that to folks in Portland, Seattle, and just about everywhere else north, east, and south of here. (The picture: Looking across Berkeley Marina to Mount Tamalpais from the I-80 pedestrian bridge, just after sunset tonight.)
Summertime
From the National Weather Service Area Forecast Discussion earlier this evening
As of 8:54 p.m. PDT Thursday … another summer day comes to a close along the Central California coast. Keeping with the trend … afternoon highs were slightly below normal once again. Stratus continues to be banked up along the coast and starting to push into the bays and inland valleys. Profiler network and 00z Oakland sounding from this evening indicate the marine inversion varying from north to south 1500-2000 ft. Local onshore flow (SFO-SAC) maxing out once again above +4.0 mb with strong winds blowing through San Francisco Bay and the West Delta. Tomorrow should to be very similar to today … with widespread stratus coverage during the morning then burning back to the coast by midday. Localized areas of drizzle can be expected as well.
What’s all that mean? It’s gray, foggy and cool here. This week, we could sell that to folks in Portland, Seattle, and just about everywhere else north, east, and south of here. (The picture: Looking across Berkeley Marina to Mount Tamalpais from the I-80 pedestrian bridge, just after sunset tonight.)