Out of the fog

[Dave Grubb]

In my email this morning from a friend in ME:

[UTAH]

Man, I hate fog. When in Cali's Bay Area we'd get thick soup that made me fear going forward - yet I also feared stopping because someone could run into me. We rarely get fog at my current altitude. Yeah, it can be pretty - but I don't miss it.

Hunter

[TriGuy]

Man, I hate fog. When in Cali's Bay Area we'd get thick soup that made me fear going forward - yet I also feared stopping because someone could run into me. We rarely get fog at my current altitude. Yeah, it can be pretty - but I don't miss it.

Hunter

It gets that way on hwy 84 near the Livermore Airport. Thick Tule fog that your headlights become useless in, Its dark and you might be able to see 30-40 feet at times.

[Dave Grubb]

And then there is me----I rate the sea fog in northern CA as one of the great natural pluses. I do not argue the driving impairment but beyond that I think the sea fog creates its own world. Wondering around SF on foot, in the evening, the fog sets a completely different mood to the city.

Some years ago we took friends to San Francisco, then up the coast and eventually to Yosemite. One of the things I had hyped everyone on was the beauty and transformative effect of the fog.

I was terribly disappointed, that while in San Francisco, at the beginning of our trip, there was a complete absence of fog. Finally, as we headed up the coast we saw it coming in, which I find mesmerizing. I pulled off to the side of RT 1 as it slowly enveloped us---I was saved from empty promises

We soon turned east and left the coast behind, but they had the full experience.

And--now it is another fog story time: The fog in northern Italy does not hold the same intrigue for me, it descends and stays, sometime for weeks at a time. Add to that cold temperatures (near freezing) and the associated dampness that goes through your bones and the hinderance to travel all combine to make one wish for a wind!

During one of those occurrences, that had been going on for more than a week, I had to go to Milan from Perugia in Umbria, near Tuscany. I knew driving would not be dependable but some flights were getting in and out of Perugia since the Airport is on top of a mountain. I had an early flight, to improve my chances. When I got to the airport about 6 AM I was rewarded with an island of clearness

As we went out to board, at about 7 AM, the fog was beginning to roll in, I figured I was doomed. But they continued to board (quickly), closed the doors and began to taxi. By that time the fog had fully enveloped us and I was surprised we were even moving. When we got to the runway the engines (jets) revved up but we slowly moved down the runway to the far end, then turned around and repeated the same high rev slow run back to the other end. After making the "U" turn again, he hit the throttles and took the brakes off----and off we went to Milan, which was fog free.

I was to find out that this is a trick pilots do in the midst of these winter fogs----they are actually vaporizing the fog from the runway with the heat from the engines.

One thing of beauty, inherent in those fogs is the extreme hoarfrost which forms over the extended times of fog.

[UTAH]

Excellent memories there, Dave.

One Winter, driving Southbound of Nephi, Utah, I hit a rare patch of fog - which typically freezes and drops as frozen crystals to the ground. As the fog dissipated, I took a pic of my dash readout which showed the temperature as -8 degrees Fahrenheit. When I posted the pic for friends a few of them were concerned as the dash showed I was on cruise control at 75 MPH. In my defense, the roads and the weather were cold, but in perfect condition.

Hunter

[TriGuy]

did you say rime?

[Truckman]

The fog in northern Italy does not hold the same intrigue for me, it descends and stays, sometime for weeks at a time.

I don't have as much European experience as you, Dave, but the area in the Eifel Valley of West Germany must have been similar, because the fog was just about perpetual...My memories of northern Italy don't include fog, but we were there in May so it may have been seasonal......Ben

[Dave Grubb]

I don't have as much European experience as you, Dave, but the area in the Eifel Valley of West Germany must have been similar, because the fog was just about perpetual...My memories of northern Italy don't include fog, but we were there in May so it may have been seasonal......Ben

It was seasonal and happened most often from mid December to mid February. An option for travel that I would use occasionally was the trains, but that could become iffy at times. On one occasion, a few days after New Years, I returned from being home for the holidays and flew into Rome on a Sunday. I had to go to Bologna to meet someone. I had a flight booked but no flights were going north so I decided to take the train. It turned out that was also the day that all the University students were returning to school. I ended up standing for what seemed like an endless journey. It was more like a Tokyo subway than an Italian train. My guess is that none of those young ladies got off that train with their dignity in tack I was standing in the aisle outside a first class cabin occupied by 4 Russian soldiers in uniform----I considered starting an international incident

[Dave Grubb]

Thinking further about those years, I recall that I never felt colder than I felt on some of those occasions.

Our European plants were all heated, but that was a bit unusual in Italy. Metal working plants commonly were unheated and there are few things that feel colder than the inside of a factory in the middle of winter with no heat. Often I had to visit those factories and even at 30 F it could be bone chilling. When I was doing heavy construction there were times that I got cold but for the most part I was dressed appropriately. A business suit (even with a big wool scarf about my neck) is NOT appropriate in the middle of winter in an unheated factory-----but that was my uniform! While the temperature in the area where I spent most of my time seldom got below about 25 F it would often be 90%+ humidity.

Rome, in central Italy has palm trees---but I have also seen snow on those palm trees

[Phillbo]

Try driving in a Haboob......

[Dave Grubb]

In my Utah years I had that opportunity It was a bit like watching the sea fog move in----in fast forward

It came across a wheat field and we saw it when it was maybe a mile away. We were in a mobile office trailer at the time. When it past, the inside of the trailer was covered with dust

[TriGuy]

Try driving in a Haboob......

When I was a kid we were out in the desert. My dad was driving our 1960 Ford Station Wagon when we go hit by a sand storm. It took all the paint off the passenger side and pitted the hell out of the glass. And that's how we ended up with a new 1970 Ford LTD Country Squire Station Wagon with a 390 V8 and fake wood paneling

[Ferraridriver]

I grew up in San Francisco in the Sunset District. We would be playing football or something, pretty soon the fog would roll in, cool us off then, the bells of St Anne’s would ring the Angelus and we knew it was time to go home for dinner.
Good times

[Ferraridriver]

Later on we moved to Berkeley, across the bay. We had a house on the hill about 200 feet above the fog line. I used to look out of my bedroom window and see the entire bay covered in fog with the Golden Gate Bridge standing knee deep in the fog in the distance.
Talk about a million dollar view.

[Mike]

Later on we moved to Berkeley, across the bay. We had a house on the hill about 200 feet above the fog line. I used to look out of my bedroom window and see the entire bay covered in fog with the Golden Gate Bridge standing knee deep in the fog in the distance.
Talk about a million dollar view.

That sounds really cool!