Video shows fast-moving ‘fognado’ rolling over Santa Cruz beach
San Luis Obispo County residents have seen some turbulent weather this week, but beachgoers in Santa Cruz experienced something even more bizarre.
A video shot Wednesday by Julia Elman at Natural Bridges State Beach shows a fast-moving wall of fog that arrives and disappears in about 2 minutes.
Two versions of video can be seen: The first is a timelapse, and the second shows the event in real time. About 2 minutes after the wall of fog arrived and temperatures reportedly dropped, blue sky broke through again.
In a story posted on KSBW.com, meteorologist Lee Solomon said the “fognado” — a term apparently coined by beachgoers that day — was likely either a gravity wave, a sea breeze front or a roll cloud.
PG&E meteorologist John Lindsey said it may have been a “very weak cold front coming through the area.”
Lindsey said it was “pretty unusual” and not something typically seen on the Central Coast.
Is this a coastal roll cloud over Santa Cruz County? #cawx pic.twitter.com/auxpPPhUXm
— Crissy Huffard (@Mucktopus) August 3, 2017
Lucas Clark: 805-781-7915, @LucasClark_SLO
This story was originally published August 4, 2017 at 5:53 PM with the headline "Video shows fast-moving ‘fognado’ rolling over Santa Cruz beach."