Talk:Tule fog
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Formation details could be expanded
Schoenherr's A Natural History of California has more information about the formation of tule fog. It notes (p. 42) that the tule fog is a temperature inversion layer. It is formed when cold mountain air flows downslope into the valley during the night, pooling in the low areas until it fills the valley to the "brim" formed by the Coast Ranges and the Sierra Nevada. This occurs because most areas in the Great Central Valley have little or no air drainage below the level of mountain passes. Because of the density of the cold air in the winter, winds are not able to dislodge the fog and the high pressure of the warmer air above the mountaintops presses down on the cold air trapped in the valley, resulting in a dense, immobile fog that can last for days undisturbed. During the summer, the sun is warmer and better able to burn off the fog.
Besides traffic problems, another big problem associated with the tule fog is that the density of air at the inversion layer traps pollutants below it, leading to poor air quality and the formation of photochemical smog. This is particularly concerning because the source of the pollutants includes not only exhaust gases, but a host of other chemical compounds sprayed as fertilizers and pesticides by the Valley's argicultural industries. This pollution is a major contributor to the large number of "bad air days" and the high incidences of asthma and other respiratory illnesses in Central Valley communities such as Bakersfield. Mike Dillon 16:04, September 4, 2005 (UTC)
- The reference info for Schoenherr's book is: A Natural History of California, pp. 42, 518, 522. Allan A. Schoenherr. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1995. ISBN 0-520-06922-6 (paperback). Mike Dillon 16:07, September 4, 2005 (UTC)
Tule fog or Tule Fog?
To me, Tule Fog is a proper noun—that is, it is a specific type of fog called the Tule Fog (and not a fog called Tule)—and so it should be fully capitalized. This is the same as, for example, Caspian Sea and not Caspian sea. BlankVerse ∅ 16:27, 4 September 2005 (UTC)