A Dense Fog Advisory is in impact for a large swath of central Indiana from 10:00 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 24, by 11:00 a.m. EST Thursday, Dec. 25, in keeping with the Nationwide Climate Service (NWS) in Indianapolis.
Forecasters warn that visibility might drop to one-quarter mile or much less, rising the chance of hazardous driving circumstances in a single day and in the course of the Thursday morning commute.
The advisory covers parts of central, east central, north central, and west central Indiana, together with counties resembling Carroll, Warren, Tippecanoe, Clinton, Howard, Fountain, Montgomery, Boone, Tipton, Hamilton, Madison, Delaware, Randolph, Vermillion, Parke, Putnam, Hendricks, Marion, Hancock, and Henry.
The NWS bulletin additionally lists quite a few communities inside the impacted space, together with Indianapolis, Lafayette and West Lafayette, Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, Anderson, Muncie, Kokomo, Crawfordsville, Danville, Brownsburg, and Greenfield.
What Drivers Ought to Anticipate In a single day
Dense fog typically develops erratically, and the best hazard isn’t merely decreased visibility however fast, localized modifications—a transparent stretch of roadway can rapidly transition into near-whiteout circumstances. In its advisory, the NWS explicitly cautions that low visibility might make driving circumstances hazardous.
The company’s hazardous climate outlook for central Indiana underscores the persistence of the occasion, noting widespread dense fog is anticipated tonight and is prone to proceed by Thursday morning. That timing heightens the chance for early vacationers, together with these heading out earlier than dawn when fog might be thickest.
Security Steering for Journey
Officers are urging drivers to regulate plans and driving habits. Within the advisory’s precautionary part, the NWS states: “If driving, decelerate, use your headlights, and depart loads of distance forward of you.”
The NWS additionally recommends particular practices for driving in fog, emphasizing steps that scale back glare and assist different motorists see your automobile. Key steering consists of slowing down and permitting additional time, utilizing low-beam headlights so taillights are additionally illuminated, and by no means utilizing high-beam lights, which might replicate off fog droplets and worsen visibility.
Transportation-safety officers usually advise motorists to keep away from abrupt lane modifications, preserve an extended following distance than regular, and keep oriented utilizing lane markings and roadside reflectors—notably on interstates, close to interchanges, and in low-lying areas the place fog generally thickens.
When Circumstances Might Enhance
Circumstances are anticipated to regularly enhance later Thursday morning as temperatures rise and daytime mixing helps disperse fog. Till then, drivers throughout the advisory space ought to anticipate sluggish journey and sudden visibility reductions, and contemplate delaying non-essential journeys the place attainable.
