Snow pack leads to a foggy weekend

W. SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - You wouldn't call it balmy, but temperatures rising through the 40s aren’t bad considering we're in what's considered the coldest week of the year in western Massachusetts.

"I don't like the cold at all. I've got arthritis in the knees, it hurts and I'd rather have warm weather…Even with the fog," said Patti Webster of West Springfield.

After a foggy Saturday and Saturday night, the fog continued through Sunday morning and into the afternoon.

The shallow, but dense fog, at times limited visibility to under a quarter mile, prompting dense fog advisories to be issued for all of western Massachusetts.

"It is rather gloomy, I think it's because it's warmer and we have snow pack," said Mary Dillon of West Springfield.

And she'd be right. That snow pack is keeping the ground cold. When warm, moist air goes over a cold surface that warm air then cools and condenses creating clouds and fog.

The short amount of daylight and our low sun angle also didn't help to burn off this layer of fog.

Had we had this weather pattern last year, with no snow on the ground, temperatures could have pushed well into the 50s if not near 60 degrees.

Nevertheless, people seem to appreciate the mild weather, even without much sunshine.

"I think I can handle the fog with the warmth rather than the snow and the ice, although I do love the snow. It's just easier to get around and it's much more manageable," said Jeanne Trique of West Springfield.