Dense fog making driving especially risky in the Valley

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Commuters around the Valley woke up to a thick cloud of tiny water droplets in the air. The lower visibility made driving especially risky.

"Fog is critically dangerous and you wouldn't put a blindfold around your eyes to drive down the road and when you drive into thick fog, that's exactly what you are doing. You just drove into darkness," said Captain Dave Paris.

Paris is reminding everyone to stay alert during the murky climate. California Highway Patrol sees an increase in crashes on foggy days. Officers encourage people to slow down, use your low beams and be careful because the conditions are hazy and slick.

"Roll your window down just a little. Let the electric button bring it just a little bit so you can hear outside so maybe you can hear a train or a car horn," added Paris.

Passengers traveling to Fresno Yosemite International were also impacted on Wednesday night. A Volaris flight was diverted to San Jose and another Aero Mexico flight was cancelled.

"This airport has everything we need to operate in the fog up to 600 feet when we get socked in 600 feet or below we come to a ground stop and that's required by the FAA for safety purposes," said Rhonda Jorn.

But this weather is good news for citrus farmers who want to avoid deep freezes overnight.

"The fog blanket in the valley lowers the temperature in the valley a little bit," said Ryan Jacobsen. "It is usually the high, low, forties and that's perfect weather to make sure we don't get into those freeze temperatures that would be so dangerous to citrus this time of year."

Jacobsen says last year's deep freeze on the Valley floor caused millions of dollars in damages. Jacobsen says what the Ag industry really needs now is snow at higher elevations.