Best time for Golden Gate pictures with fog

I was wondering when are the best chances of being able to take

pictures of the golden gate bridge with fog.

 

Summertime in SF covers the bridge, but when would I have the best

chance of being able to take a picture of the bridge's towers cutting

above the fog from the Marin hillsides, ie. fog is flat and low as to

cover the roadway, but leaving the towers visible from the hilltops.

 

what month? and usually is it during dawn? or midday? or near sunset

time of the day as well.

 

any insights would be helpful.

 

thanx

My uncle lives in Marin county. When I visit in summers I noticed that the fog rolls in in the morning, then burns off.

It varies every day. I'd say a spring sunrise gives you the

best chance for the particular effect you seek, but there

are no guarantees.

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Mid-summer late afternoons have the best chance for fog in general,

but the fog comes with wind that blows from west to east. As

the air gets lifted over the Marin Headlands, it tends to cause

fog to condense over the peaks. That will often block your

view. Often, the summer afternoon fog enters the bay in a

narrow "tongue" that goes through the Gate and licks at Alcatraz.

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The calmer air at an early spring sunrise can sometimes produce

a more flat, even layer of fog across the entire Bay. When

you're lucky, it will stay low and you'll have clear air above.

I've tried several times to see the same thing and i've only been able to see that effect the first time I tried. but on the bright side, if the bridge is totally fogged in you can go to mt. tam instead and shoot down at the whole bay covered in fog.

 

i've lived here for two years and i can't predict anything about the weather but i think a lot of times on clear warm days the fog rolls in eventually.

Having made the 30 mile drive numerous times north to the bridge from

Menlo Park I can attest to the fickle nature of the weather and light conditions

at the GGB.

 

My inclination for this type of shot would be late afternoons tp sunset from

mid-summer on when the hot central valley creates a heat-sink that draws in

cools air straight through the Golden Gate with its accompanying fog. I like the

sunset light on the bridge when viewed from the Marin headlands better than

AM shots. But you never really know what sort of conditions you will have until

you get there. This shot is similar to what you are seeking from Lincoln Blvd

above Baker Beach at sunset in early January 2003:<div></div>

I lived in Sausalito for 13 years and used to ride my bike to work

over the Golden Gate almost every day. As I recall the fog season

would begin around the middle of April and be patchy, with an

occasional socked in day, until mid May. Mid afternoons were

good times for fog just begining to form in the Headlands then.

From mid May the fog season would get into high gear and could

be foggy in the morning, break up in San Francisco around

11am (just in time for lunch) and stay blue until around 3pm then

socked in again. Closer to the bridge might remain foggy all day.

And it also depends on the year...some are more foggy than

other. I remember one summer when there was no fog. The fog

season ends around the mid to late September. And as others

have noted there is little or no predictablity to the fog conditions.

Hope this helps.

Thanx for the ideas..so it seems that late spring (april-may) was the season to be.... how bout late summer.. i read all over the place that the summer fog starts to peel off around mid august or sept... wouldnt that create opportunities for low fogs that would cover the corssway but leave the towers to view from the headlands?

There are so many variables involved that's it impossible to predict conditions at the bridge. I live just down the coast from the bridge; I can't predict the conditions 2 miles from my house. You'd have better luck at the tables in Vegas than trying to predict when conditions are right at the bridge.

Just to confirm the non-predictability noted above, I was there this past weekend (7/10-11)... mornings were foggy, but the fog was high, obscuring the tops of the towers; late afternoons were clear, with haze.