Analyzing 50 Years of Major Fog Events Across the Central Coastal Plain of Israel

This work presents an analysis of 152 major fog events that have been occurring for five decades (1967-2017) across the central coastal plain of Israel. Analysis of the meteorological data shows that fog events in the experimental area predominantly occur under two sets of synoptic conditions – Red Sea Trough (44%) and Ridge (41%), while the incidence of fog events peaks between March and June. In particular, the results obtained indicate a decreasing trend in the number of fog events and their duration over time where the frequency of radiation fog has decreased over time when compared to the incidence of advection fog. Further investigation is required in order to determine the reasons for the decreasing fog trends observed. However, possible drivers include climate change and the urban heat island effect. The paper provides a long-term analysis of data in a region that lacks reliable time series of this length, and highlight important insights for future research.