SBSM — Santa Maria Airport

fog forecast & climatology · Santa Maria city page · full 10-year analysis →
No fog forecast feed exists for this station. September typically brings about 10 hours of dense fog here (10-year average).

Fog hours per year
157 h below CAT I minima (2016–2026 average)
Fog season
July and June
Typical fog event
~2 h once it forms (middle half 1–4 h, n=500)
Data through
2026-08-15 · machine-readable data.json

When this airport fogs in

In a typical year Santa Maria Airport spends 157 hours below CAT I approach minima (visibility under ~½ mile or ceiling under 200 ft), concentrated in July and June. The strip above shows the hour-by-hour pattern for the current month from ten years of weather observations.

Fog season

January: ~2 hJanFebruary: ~4 hFebMarch: ~7 hMarApril: ~14 hAprMay: ~26 hMayJune: ~26 hJunJuly: ~35 hJulAugust: ~16 hAugSeptember: ~10 hSepOctober: ~3 hOctNovember: ~1 hNovDecember: ~0 hDec
Fog season runs April through September, peaking in July; fog is mostly a 6 AM–9 AM phenomenon; typically thinning out by 11 AM; a typical event lasts about 2 hours once it forms local time · 10-yr average

For flight operations

EFVS crews: the CHASE board ranks airports by live fog status, approach lighting, go-around height and flight time from your base. Forecast probabilities publish here per-airport once the calibrated model beats climatology on live verification — receipts on the scorecard. Methodology.

Sources: NOAA/NWS National Blend of Models guidance · METAR observations 2016–2026 (Iowa Environmental Mesonet) · FAA NASR. Machine access: data.json · llms.txt. Not for operational use.