NEW ORLEANS – Super fog is snarling the morning commute around New Orleans Wednesday morning, as affected highways shut down a day after dense wildfire smoke was blamed for a deadly crash along Interstate 10.
The super fog is forming in a very small area where nearby marsh fires are spewing smoke into the air, and a strong temperature inversion near the surface is trapping that smoke near the surface, the FOX Forecast Center said.
The fog alone may reduce visibility to under a quarter mile, but where the fog mixes with smoke, visibility may drop to as low as 100 feet.
A Dense Fog Advisory is currently in effect for certain areas as both directions of Interstate 10 are closed near Interstate 510 due to dense fog, the Louisiana Department of Transportation said. Visibility may also be reduced to less than 100 feet in some portions of St. Tammany and Orleans parishes.
“The problem is you can’t see, and if you can’t see, you shouldn’t be driving,” FOX Weather Meteorologist Britta Merwin said. “We’re watching the cameras this morning across New Orleans and Louisiana. This is also an issue for Mobile and along the I-10 corridor, (visibility) is already tanking.”
This comes after at least one person was killed and eight others were injured in a series of at least five crashes when caused when wildfire smoke dropped visibility to near-zero between Irish Bayou and Michoud Boulevard on Tuesday.
DENSE WILDFIRE SMOKE BLAMED FOR DEADLY I-10 CRASH OUTSIDE NEW ORLEANS
After reviewing satellite data and discussing with the National Weather Service New Orleans, the FOX Forecast Center said the cause of the near-zero visibility was dense smoke not super fog. Nearby marsh fires created that smoke, which became trapped under a temperature inversion, creating hazardous visibility over I-10.
But dense fog was more widespread on Wednesday morning, creating conditions needed with nearby wildfire smoke to generate super fog.