A handy new website that pulls in satellite images of San Francisco every five to ten minutes is now your quickest and best tool to see where the fog line currently is, and where SF's persistent summer fog is moving. It's called, appropriately, Fog Today, and it gives you both the current picture of where the fog is, a loop of the last two hours, and a loop of the last 24 hours but the nighttime images are rendered unusable by visual "noise."
As CityLab explains, the site utilizes pictures from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's new geostationary Earth-observation satellite, which is called GOES-16, and it was built by SF resident and BuzzFeed reporter Logan Williams.
As Williams tells CityLab, "Watching the fog flow in is beautiful, and seeing it flow over the hills is an experience many in the Bay Area cherish. With these satellite images, we can watch the macro-scale view as well, and it’s equally fascinating atmospheric eddies, rivers, and ripples revealed through our fog."
Even for those of us familiar with summer weather patterns here, it's mesmerizing to watch the previous-two-hour loop, which this morning illustrates how the fog that pours in through the Golden Gate at night and blankets the Bay slowly recedes as the day goes on, first lifting off the Bay, and then backing off parts of the city too. The full day loop, with a partially foggy day like yesterday, is educational too.
Bookmark it. Put it on your phone. Say thank you to Mr. Williams.
Related: S.F. Summer Guide: The 10 Quickest Ways To Escape The Fog
