Fog Closes Southland Airports, Snarls Traffic

Dense fog forced closure of Los Angeles International Airport and Orange County’s John Wayne Airport and slowed rush-hour traffic on freeways near the coast in Southern California early Friday.

The fog returned late in the day to bedevil residents and motorists within five miles to 10 miles of the ocean, but strong winds blowing from the north were expected to dissipate the gray blanket during the night.

Lee Nichols, spokesman for the Los Angeles Department of Airports, said about a dozen flights were diverted from LAX to Ontario International Airport between 6:20 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., when visibility was at its worst.

John Wayne Airport was closed between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m., according to Airport Manager George Rebella. Four incoming flights circled for 20 minutes to more than an hour, and 30 departures were delayed, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. No inbound flights were diverted from John Wayne to other airports, however.

“Things went pretty smoothly,” Rebella said. “We were lucky. We’re in the middle of a two-week lull that we always get in the middle, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, when we have some of our lightest traffic of the year. . . . It could have been much worse.”

No Major Accidents

The California Highway Patrol said that there were no major traffic accidents because of the fog in the metropolitan Los Angeles area.

But, near Bakersfield, the CHP said two people were killed and six injured on California 58 in a series of at least eight traffic accidents--including a 20-vehicle pileup involving truck rigs and cars.

The CHP blamed the accidents on speed, wet pavement and poor visibility in the fog-shrouded foothills east of Bakersfield.

Meteorologist Dan Bowman of WeatherData Inc. said that satellite photos showed a long, thin band of fog hugging the coast from Point Mugu to San Diego.

“The main reason is that we had a moist onshore flow of air last night and fog was formed as it moved over the warmer ground,” Bowman said.

But, he said, strengthening winds from a weather front moving through southern Nevada would likely wipe the fog away during the night and bring cooler temperatures.

Highs today are expected to range into the upper 60s and lower 70s along the coast, with 50s in desert areas. Lows in the Los Angeles Basin are expected to drop into the mid-40s tonight and low 40s at the Los Angeles Civic Center on Sunday.