Although the likelihood of severe fog seems to be decreasing, there may still be additional late-night advisories, and hundreds of planes have been delayed entering and leaving the airport.
Flight plans into and out of San Diego International Airport have been severely disrupted by the daily deep fog here, just as the holiday travel season is about to begin. Furthermore, there is still a chance for further disruption.
FlightAware, a flight tracking website, reports that about 800 planes entering and departing the airport had experienced delays in the last three days.
There is still a chance of a late-night alert, even though the National Weather Service is observing indications that reduced visibility due to fog may be heading inland.
Casey Oswant, a lead forecaster with the National Weather Service, stated on Friday that “we think closer to the Interstate15 corridor we may see areas of dense fog tonight, but there’s still the question of when it becomes widespread enough to be an issue.” “We need to see dense fog along the coast before we trigger an advisory because the fog can be a little picky, but most of the dense fog has now dispersed from the coast.”
According to Brandt Maxwell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, dense fog could still build overnight, but by early evening, only low clouds were beginning to form near the coast.
Although it’s still too early to pinpoint the precise location of fog, Maxwell said it might be concentrated slightly inland, east of Interstate 5, rather than west of the freeway, as it was on Thursday night.
Over the course of the 18-day holiday, which started Thursday, San Diego airport authorities predict that up to 1.3 million passengers would arrive and depart the airport. Friday through Monday are anticipated to be some of the busiest days at the airport. Travelers should be “aware we’re experiencing some flight delays due to fog,” the airport warned in a travel notice shared on social media on Friday morning. Before heading to the airport, confirm with your airline.
According to Oswant, visibility could be as low as one mile on Friday night due to fog, although that is not nearly as terrible as it was on Thursday night, when it was only a quarter of a mile surrounding the airport at 8 p.m. Later, it dropped to less than a quarter-mile until 4 a.m. Friday, she added.
FlightAware reports that on Friday alone, there were over 300 flight delays into and out of the airport. The effect of several days of delayed flights, as airlines attempt to get passengers on later flights, is partly to blame for that.
Nicole Hall, an airport representative, stated on Friday that “both departing and arriving flights can be impacted by year-round weather conditions.” Visibility at the San Diego International Airport was affected by a thick layer of low fog starting on Thursday and lasting until Friday. As a result, over 30 flights were canceled and over 100 were rerouted to other airports. It’s possible that fog will linger and present difficulties going forward.
In order to assist travelers and reduce crowding in the airline gate areas, she mentioned that volunteers and employees from the Airport Authority will be present.
She advised travelers to keep checking the status of their flights before arriving at the airport as a precaution. She went on to say that whether there is fog or not, delays are inevitable while flying, particularly during one of the busiest times of the year for the airport.
