Central Valley

[mostie]

At the moment, I live in Michigan- but I'm from the Central Valley, born there, lived there my entire life- up until 3 years ago, and we will be heading back to Fresno within the month- all I know about Lemoore, is the Naval Air Station is there- as for the air quality, well....I can recall many days of standing on one corner in Fresno, and seeing the next corner through a haze- looking up into the sky along the gray skyline, and having to look straight up to see actual blue...and the heat, hahaha....yeah, it gets hot, alright- and STAYS that way....

On the other hand, I can recall when we actually did have clear days, and you could see the mountains in the distance, it used to be beautiful- I was born and raised in Kingsburg, it's a nice town- good for families, not if you want a night life- the majority of people living there work in Fresno, or at least that's what I always had to do- but it's a nice little bedroom community- the cost of living, funny thing about that....in MI, it's about the same as Fresno- cigarettes are higher than Fresno, and they will be going up to over 7$ a pack after April 1- not to mention that the economy here is terrible, which is why we're going back to Fresno- wouldn't you know....the one place I have family (Central Valley) is almost as bad as the economy here..lol.

[mostie]

I almost forgot...the fog. It doesn't seem anywhere as bad as it used to be when I was a kid- back then, it would get so completely thick that you couldn't see the house across the street, and had to roll down your car window to see the line on the road- it would stay that way, sometimes, for weeks on end- now, it doesn't seem to be anywhere near as bad as it was then.

[Bluesbabe]

Originally Posted by mostie

I almost forgot...the fog. It doesn't seem anywhere as bad as it used to be when I was a kid- back then, it would get so completely thick that you couldn't see the house across the street, and had to roll down your car window to see the line on the road- it would stay that way, sometimes, for weeks on end- now, it doesn't seem to be anywhere near as bad as it was then.

I grew up near Merced in the 60's. And what's funny for me to read this, is that the schools didn't have "fog days" back then (when schools start a couple of hours late after it's lifted). Today they do.

However, I remember the worst fog being at night.

[FresnoFacts]

Although people complain about the fog in the Valley, I've been in other cities that have to deal with snow or ice.

I've seen Dallas shut down completely for a couple of days due to an ice storm, Milwaukee shut down due to snow, etc.

At least by being cautious in the fog you can still get out and about.

[Bluesbabe]

Originally Posted by FresnoFacts

Although people complain about the fog in the Valley, I've been in other cities that have to deal with snow or ice.

I've seen Dallas shut down completely for a couple of days due to an ice storm, Milwaukee shut down due to snow, etc.

At least by being cautious in the fog you can still get out and about.

I agree. I absolutely hate, and dread, ice storms where I live. We had a nasty one through the second half of December, and it affected the holidays a lot. People hardly went out to shop, and the grocery stores were short on stock on many things due to delivery trucks being unable to travel. It was an ugly, ugly time to hit the grocers.

[Franklyn]

Originally Posted by Bluesbabe

I grew up near Merced in the 60's. And what's funny for me to read this, is that the schools didn't have "fog days" back then (when schools start a couple of hours late after it's lifted). Today they do.......

What happened was that out in the country area where there wasn't enough moving traffic to swirl the fog away there were a couple of bad school bus accidents when buses were trying leave side roads and couldn't hear or see cross traffic until it was too late. Discretion became the better part of valor and if a district had rural routes most of them began the day later to allow the buses to run a trifle safer. Of course some of the districts now have buses with side view radar so the issue isn't as bad now as before, probably.

But from the coast I get the same impression. Tule fog in the valley is not as bad now as it was, I hear. I have lots of stories, but then so do most of the other old geezers.

[mostie]

Originally Posted by FresnoFacts

Although people complain about the fog in the Valley, I've been in other cities that have to deal with snow or ice.

I've seen Dallas shut down completely for a couple of days due to an ice storm, Milwaukee shut down due to snow, etc.

At least by being cautious in the fog you can still get out and about.

Being in Northern Michigan, I can TOTALLY identify with that one- white outs that come from nowhere, at the drop of a hat, bitter cold, then rain and hail, or rain and snow, AND thunder- this place has THE most off-the-wall weather I've ever seen- I'll take my chances with the fog and the heat, thankyouverymuch- LOL

[FresnoFacts]

When I was in Milwaukee in a big storm I was driving a rental car. Trying to get back to my hotel I saw lots of locals spinning out even in SUVs. So I just dropped the transmission into low and drove at a slower speed. Had no problem getting to the hotel.