Weather News

Thick Sydney fog rolls out to the beaches

Rob Sharpe, Monday July 18, 2016 - 06:46 AEST

Sydneysiders are waking up to thick fog on the warmest day since May.

On Sunday night, light winds, clear skies and a moist airmass caused fog to form quickly in western Sydney. Visibility dropped below 1000 metres in Richmond by 9:30pm and was below 200 metres across most of western Sydney by about 11pm, including Richmond, Bankstown and Camden.

In the early hours of the morning, light westerly winds developed, drawing the soggy air from the west towards the east. By 5am visibility at Sydney Olympic Park was less than the length of the stadium.

Sydney airport was the next in line to be enveloped by fog, with visibility below its threshold of 2000m from 5am to 6:15am, at times as low as 250 metres, causing significant delays.

Sydney Harbour and its famous icons were completely covered in fog well before sunrise. Even many of the beaches were eerie in the fog, with reports that Coogee was experiencing its thickest fog in years, potentially as low as 100 metres, although there is no official data.

The morning commute will be slower than usual and more dangerous due to the lack fog, so it's important for commuters to be patient and careful.

Visibility is expected to improve from around 8:30am, but there are still likely to be areas covered in fog or mist even as late as 10am.

Once the fog clears a warm winter's day is on its way, with a top of 23 expected, not experienced since May. Most days until Friday will be this warm except for the soaking wet Wednesday.

- Weatherzone

© Weatherzone 2016

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