Break in Fog Siege Due for 2 to 3 Days

Orange County is expected to get a break over the next two or three days from the dense morning fog that has plagued coastal areas since Saturday, causing traffic tie-ups on the freeways and problems at John Wayne Airport.

Although several airline representatives said numerous flights were delayed or canceled Monday because of the low clouds, airport officials described the impact as minimal because the fog lifted before 7 a.m.--the earliest that carriers can depart because of noise restrictions.

Some travelers were kept waiting from a few minutes to a couple of hours, airline representatives said.

Weather experts predicted an early fog today but said the sun will break through by midmorning before giving way to a mass of clouds.

“That condition of high cloudiness should extend for two or three days,” ending the string of foggy mornings, meteorologist Ken German said Monday. German, of WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times, noted that foggy conditions are normal for this time of year.

Christine Edwards, head of operations at the county airport, said some of the Monday delays were caused by more severe foggy conditions in Northern California.

“Some of their flights were delayed here, not because of our fog here, but because of fog there,” Edwards said.

But an American Airlines flight scheduled to arrive in Orange County at 8:14 a.m. from Sacramento was a few minutes late, and an America West flight from Phoenix was behind schedule by 1 1/2 hours--both held back because of fog here, airline officials said.

The backup in air traffic actually began for some airlines Sunday evening when a dense patch of fog rolled into Orange County, preventing some flights from landing at John Wayne Airport after 10:20 p.m.