Timing of mountain fog

[marius97]

Last year driving north of Chattanooga at 3:00 am we hit the worst fog I'd ever seen. I slowed down to 25 mph and that was too fast. I didn't slow down more because I was afraid some crazy person wouldn't see me driving so slow. I pulled off at the first rest stop and we waited it out a bit. It eased a bit after two hours so we tried to get out of there. Just our luck, in the next mile, it seemed like we came down enough in elevation that the fog was gone. If I had known that, I never would have stopped in the first place. In the mountains, is there a patern for when fog develops? Does it start at dusk and last through to the morning? Is it only on cooler nights? Or is it more a 24/7 kind of thing? Coming from Michigan where the only high thing I ever see is the dunes along Lake Michigan that are 200+ feet high, this mountain fog has me a bit worried. I'm hoping that we just hit the worst of the worst on the night we came through there. This friday night we'll be coming through a bit earlier...more in the 11:30 pm range.

 

[shafke]

Maybe it was a low cloud. We were driving in the mountains of VA on an overcast/rainy day. You could see the tops of the mountains in cloud cover. When the road was below the clouds it was just overcast and damp. As the road got higher you drove into a very heavy fog which was the cloud. It wasn't raining but you needed the wipers because of all the moisture in the air.

 

[annacali]

Did you come thru Nashville? From Nashville there is only the one "mountain" ie/ Monteagle to go over between Nashville and Chattanooga and I am guessing the fog is hit or miss. I lived in Chattanooga for 3 years and drove back and forth on that road a lot and don't remember it being an issue and it would be just as likely (if not more likely) in the valley near the river.

 

[skiingfast]

I drive in fog often. Caused by a number of reasons. I'm guessing if it doesn't rain, it's most like in the early morning. 4 am to 10 am. But I think you may of been driving through a cloud and not fog.

 

[iheartpeterpan]

Last year driving north of Chattanooga at 3:00 am we hit the worst fog I'd ever seen. I slowed down to 25 mph and that was too fast. I didn't slow down more because I was afraid some crazy person wouldn't see me driving so slow. I pulled off at the first rest stop and we waited it out a bit. It eased a bit after two hours so we tried to get out of there. Just our luck, in the next mile, it seemed like we came down enough in elevation that the fog was gone. If I had known that, I never would have stopped in the first place. In the mountains, is there a patern for when fog develops? Does it start at dusk and last through to the morning? Is it only on cooler nights? Or is it more a 24/7 kind of thing? Coming from Michigan where the only high thing I ever see is the dunes along Lake Michigan that are 200+ feet high, this mountain fog has me a bit worried. I'm hoping that we just hit the worst of the worst on the night we came through there. This friday night we'll be coming through a bit earlier...more in the 11:30 pm range.

That fog is caused by steam released from the Bowater paper plant in Calhoun. Fog is often really bad there in the mornings, and there is a fog alert system in place that should've warned you (assuming you could see it). It was responsible for a 99 car accident in 1990 that killed and injured a bunch of people. It usually forms in the early morning and burns off after sunrise.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3636/is_199408/ai_n8710570/

You should be fine at 11:30 pm.