tule fog

Named for the tule grass wetlands of the Central Valley of California in the United States, where it forms.

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈtuːli fɑɡ/

tule fog (plural tule fogs)

1. A thick, persistent ground fog, canonically found in parts of California's Central Valley, where it forms from late fall through early spring (rainy season), which may contain cold or freezing drizzle.
   • 1918, School Science and Mathematics, page 751:

     Tule fogs last until they are "burned off" by the sun or are displaced by the wind.

   • 1968, Joan Didion, “Notes from a Native Daughter”, in Slouching Towards Bethlehem:

     When summer ended—when the State Fair closed and the heat broke, when the last green hop vines had been torn down along the H Street road and the tule fog began rising off the low ground at night— […]

   • 2009, Frances Payne Adler, Debra Busman, Diana Garc’a, Fire and Ink: An Anthology of Social Action Writing, University of Arizona Press, →ISBN, page 195:

     This sentiment spreads like thick tule fog today. Ask the former San Diego mayor who commandeered the Light Up the Border forces at the San Diego-Tijuana […]

   • 2010, William F. Scanlin, No Regrets: I’ve Enjoyed a Great Life, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 133:

     On the evening of the wedding, a thick tule fog enveloped the area around Discovery Bay. The fog delayed the arrival of the minister and caused some  […]

   • 2011, Marcia Muller, Eye of the Storm, Blackstone Publishing, →ISBN:

     A thick tule fog enveloped the island. […]

   • 2015, Kyle Boelte, The Beautiful Unseen: A Memoir, Catapult, →ISBN:

     The winds that create the fog die down, and the Bay Area is clear. […] sank not during the summer fog season, but rather in winter during a thick tule fog.