A Most Amazingly Persistent Fog

This Christmas Eve morning dawned sunny and (for December, in Iowa)
warm, with not a wisp of wind.

Within the hour, the sun went out, as an incredibly dense, almost foamy
freezing fog developed. Soon the street lights came back on, we
couldn't see across the street, and everything was instantly coated in
an ever-thickening layer of frost. Our "White Christmas" had arrived,
albeit without snow.

All thoughts of flying gone, the kids and I drove into the hotel to
meet Mary (who had delivered breakfast to our guests), feeling our way
through the incredibly thick fog. It was beautiful, of course, but had
the effect of grounding EVERYONE. Even the jet jockeys were waiting it
out...

Right around noon, things began to break up, and by 1 PM, everything to
the north and west was 10 SM and clear. Just to the east of town,
however, we could see a wall of fog, looking for all the world like the
parted Red Sea in the movie "The Ten Commandments".

Checking with Flight Service, it was apparent that conditions were
improving everywhere, and our destination (Waterloo, IA) was clear and
calm. So, off we launched, with Mary as PIC, arcing powerfully into
the cool, calm skies... God, it felt great to fly!

Climbing out, the "Red Sea" was an impenetrable wall of cloud, maybe
300 feet thick, starting about 10 blocks north of our home on the east
side of Iowa City, and continuing northeast to the horizon. In every
other quadrant, the skies were clear -- and we were heading Northwest
-- so off we went. I commented to Mary that the layer started
precisely over a grocery store we both knew, and soon forgot all about
it...

Three hours later, after enjoying a delightful lunch at Livingston's
(the on-field restaurant at KALO), we returned, this time with me in
the left seat, and my 16-year-old son acting as copilot. The air was
crystal clear and the winds light as we climbed smoothly to 5500 feet,
and switched on the XM radio. This was Joe's first chance to play with
XM in the panel-docked 496, which turned out to be the REAL reason he
wanted to fly right seat. Soon we were "discussing" what music NOT to
play while flying...but I digress...

As we over-flew Cedar Rapids, and began our descent for Iowa City, we
could see the aforementioned "Red Sea" wall of fog in the distance.
Since Iowa City's AWOS was reporting "10 and clear", we knew it
wouldn't be an issue, but were wary of it nonetheless, lest it move
over the field.

Imagine our surprise when, as I entered an upwind, we noted that it
still lay PRECISELY over the very same grocery store, and still
stretched off to the Northeast. It no longer reached to the horizon,
but the dense fog layer had not moved one inch from that spot in over
three hours!

After we parked the plane, Joe and I zipped over to the mall for some
last-minute Xmas shopping, and drove home past that aforementioned
grocery store. Sure enough, the fog started exactly at that store,
reducing visibility to less than a block, and stretched northeast.
Heading south, we were instantly out of it, and back in the sun.

It was the most unusual fog I've seen in Iowa. In Wisconsin (our home
state) we could get lake-effect fog that would sometimes last for days
-- but Iowa has no similar weather-influencing body of water to induce
such persistent weather. Fog here usually develops -- and fades -- in
place, without sharp boundaries. Not today.

I was most thankful that the fog decided to plant itself two miles
northeast of the field, as it just as easily could have socked us in
all day. It was an excellent Christmas present, and allowed us to
spend Christmas eve afternoon doing what we love best!

Merry Christmas, all!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination'

Imagine our surprise when, as I entered an upwind, we noted that it
still lay PRECISELY over the very same grocery store...

I wonder if the grocery store provided any nucleation points for the
fog. Did you take any pictures?

Jose
--
"There are 3 secrets to the perfect landing. Unfortunately, nobody knows
what they are." - (mike).
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

Jose wrote:
Imagine our surprise when, as I entered an upwind, we noted that it
still lay PRECISELY over the very same grocery store...

I wonder if the grocery store provided any nucleation points for the
fog. Did you take any pictures?

Jose

When I saw the subject I, naturally, assumed that
it was refering to the little local fog problem here that has reduce
the
capacity of London Heathrow (LHR) by half for the last three days.
All domestic flights cancelled, many European flights cancelled,
only long haul unaffected. Also socked in were London Gatwick,
London Luton, London Stanstead and Birmingham, among others.

It's been the top story on the national news every day. Thousands
of people being turned away each day, ordered out of the terminal
and offered a chilly marquee and a cup of tea.

No similar incident has ever been known before.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1757413/posts

"About 70,000 BA passengers have been hit by the delays and
cancellations and the airline has been fending off claims that
it cut domestic and short-haul services to protect the more
lucrative long-haul flights, especially to North America"

I'm please that you managed to make your flight. /Really./

Merry Christmas to you all.

Jay.. your fog story is great.. I would be inclined to see if there was a
geographic feature, ridge line, valley or water that caused the Fog to
remain as a "wall" 2 miles from the airport.

But Christmas came early this year to LAS. We had an glider instructor check
ride scheduled for early Tuesday, and the FAA Examiner was coming from
Arkansa to administer the check ride. (another story)

Sure enough, it snows Monday night in LAS, the interstate highway to LAX is
closed through the mountain pass at 8500MSL. So while the "instructor
candidate" meets with the examiner for the oral portion of the check ride,
the tow pilot and instructor spend two hours clearing 2 inches of snow and
ice off the tow plane and glider under low but improving cielings. The
ground is bare, but anything above ground is covered. The airport is at
2800MSL.

By 10am, we estimate a 5000AGL cieling, and the hills over 10 miles away are
visible, the snow/ice are off the airplanes and they are drying out. It is
confirmed by another aircraft who came in for a fuel stop and weather
updates providing us pireps on his climbout.

Getting the tow plane started took lots of priming, the examiner says we
need 4K AGL to complete the checkride, a little low scud hanging aginast the
hills at about 600 ft AGL, but away from the airport. Taking the tow plane
up to 4.5AGL confirms well clear of clouds.. the check ride is a go. The
surrounding ridge tops are still cloud covered but we have at least a
5-10-15 mile cleared area around the airport with high cielings, depending
on which way you look.

Check ride complete, new Glider CFI on the field, and a little weather game
in the process. The air was stone still for the check ride.

Merry Christmas everyone!
BT


"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...
This Christmas Eve morning dawned sunny and (for December, in Iowa)
warm, with not a wisp of wind.

Within the hour, the sun went out, as an incredibly dense, almost foamy
freezing fog developed. Soon the street lights came back on, we
couldn't see across the street, and everything was instantly coated in
an ever-thickening layer of frost. Our "White Christmas" had arrived,
albeit without snow.

All thoughts of flying gone, the kids and I drove into the hotel to
meet Mary (who had delivered breakfast to our guests), feeling our way
through the incredibly thick fog. It was beautiful, of course, but had
the effect of grounding EVERYONE. Even the jet jockeys were waiting it
out...

Right around noon, things began to break up, and by 1 PM, everything to
the north and west was 10 SM and clear. Just to the east of town,
however, we could see a wall of fog, looking for all the world like the
parted Red Sea in the movie "The Ten Commandments".

Checking with Flight Service, it was apparent that conditions were
improving everywhere, and our destination (Waterloo, IA) was clear and
calm. So, off we launched, with Mary as PIC, arcing powerfully into
the cool, calm skies... God, it felt great to fly!

Climbing out, the "Red Sea" was an impenetrable wall of cloud, maybe
300 feet thick, starting about 10 blocks north of our home on the east
side of Iowa City, and continuing northeast to the horizon. In every
other quadrant, the skies were clear -- and we were heading Northwest
-- so off we went. I commented to Mary that the layer started
precisely over a grocery store we both knew, and soon forgot all about
it...

Three hours later, after enjoying a delightful lunch at Livingston's
(the on-field restaurant at KALO), we returned, this time with me in
the left seat, and my 16-year-old son acting as copilot. The air was
crystal clear and the winds light as we climbed smoothly to 5500 feet,
and switched on the XM radio. This was Joe's first chance to play with
XM in the panel-docked 496, which turned out to be the REAL reason he
wanted to fly right seat. Soon we were "discussing" what music NOT to
play while flying...but I digress...

As we over-flew Cedar Rapids, and began our descent for Iowa City, we
could see the aforementioned "Red Sea" wall of fog in the distance.
Since Iowa City's AWOS was reporting "10 and clear", we knew it
wouldn't be an issue, but were wary of it nonetheless, lest it move
over the field.

Imagine our surprise when, as I entered an upwind, we noted that it
still lay PRECISELY over the very same grocery store, and still
stretched off to the Northeast. It no longer reached to the horizon,
but the dense fog layer had not moved one inch from that spot in over
three hours!

After we parked the plane, Joe and I zipped over to the mall for some
last-minute Xmas shopping, and drove home past that aforementioned
grocery store. Sure enough, the fog started exactly at that store,
reducing visibility to less than a block, and stretched northeast.
Heading south, we were instantly out of it, and back in the sun.

It was the most unusual fog I've seen in Iowa. In Wisconsin (our home
state) we could get lake-effect fog that would sometimes last for days
-- but Iowa has no similar weather-influencing body of water to induce
such persistent weather. Fog here usually develops -- and fades -- in
place, without sharp boundaries. Not today.

I was most thankful that the fog decided to plant itself two miles
northeast of the field, as it just as easily could have socked us in
all day. It was an excellent Christmas present, and allowed us to
spend Christmas eve afternoon doing what we love best!

Merry Christmas, all!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination'

Imagine our surprise when, as I entered an upwind, we noted that it
still lay PRECISELY over the very same grocery store...

I wonder if the grocery store provided any nucleation points for the
fog. Did you take any pictures?

Upon hearing your inquiry, Mary commented "Well, it was too far from
the University to be caused by all that hot air.." -- causing me to
aspirate my Black Russian...

And that's why I married the woman...

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"