It's Almost Fogust
It’s almost my favorite season of the year - Fogust, the foggiest month of the year in San Francisco! Having grown up in one of the hottest suburbs of Los Angeles where summer temperatures easily reach triple digits many days of the summer, I love the fog with an almost child-like delight.
I love watching it march over Twin Peaks filling the voids between buildings as it takes over the city. I love getting to wear a puffer in the middle of August when the rest of the country is cooking under extreme temperatures. And I love watching that cool gray color of fog settle against the greens of San Francisco. Seriously, I love it all! My family even calls me a “fog chaser.”
So, I thought I’d celebrate the fog with my Top 5 Favorite Fog Facts about Karl the Fog.
1. How did Karl get his name?
Apparently, it all started in 2010 when an anonymous Twitter account named the fog "Karl" (named after a misunderstood giant in the movie "Big Fish,” which I still haven’t seen) popped up in San Francisco, and locals officially adopted the name thereafter.
2. How is Karl Born?
San Francisco’s fog isn't your average fog. It's a special kind called advection fog. Karl rises from a fascinating meteorological dance that starts with the vast Pacific Ocean, which is a source of warm, moisture-laden air. This air travels towards the California coast, where it meets the cooler California current. The collision of these two air masses triggers a magical transformation, and as the warm air is chilled by the cooler surfaces of the San Francisco Bay and surrounding land, it condenses, and voila—fog is born!
3. Why does Karl Linger?
What makes Karl truly unique is its persistence. Unlike radiation fog, which tends to disappear with the morning sun (in LA it’s called the “marine layer”), Karl can stick around all day, blanketing the city in a dreamy, ethereal mist. And this is exactly why Karl speaks to my San Francisco soul!
4. Where to find Karl?
If you live in San Francisco, you know exactly where to find Karl, and you either love it or hate it. Karl likes to parade through the Bay on the North Side of town in the afternoons (I use to love watching it float past Alcatraz from my old apartment in Russian Hill), it lingers in the Avenues for most of the day, marches down Twin Peaks and envelopes Sutro Tower in the early evenings (best place to chase the fog), and blankets the city in a higher sitting cool gray cloud by most evenings. And you know Karl is close by when you hear the low pitched moan of the foghorn. My favorite place to watch Karl, these days, is from my living room window as it sneaks around the trees in McLaren Park and floats over the tip of the city skyline.
5. What is Karl's calling card?
Karl has become so beloved that he even has his own social media hashtag, #KarltheFog, celebrating the best of San Francisco!
Who wants to chase some fog with me?!?!
