Fog causing travel trouble in Inland NW

Fog is causing travel problems in the Spokane region and other parts of the Columbia Basin today. Traffic cameras around the region showed that heavy fog has been occurring on the West Plains and west of Spokane into Lincoln County. Heavy fog is also occurring on the North Side into Stevens and Pend Oreille counties. State traffic cameras showed thick fog at Davenport. Spokane Valley had little fog earlier today. The National Weather Service at 11:30 a.m. issued a dense fog advisory for Spokane, Lincoln, Adams, Grant and Douglas counties. The advisory was extended to Stevens and Pend Oreille counties this afternoon. The weather service has been warning about the risk of fog throughout the morning. They said in their latest report that visibilities are dropping to less than a quarter mile along U.S. 2 from Airway Heights to Wilbur. The fog is expected to last until nightfall when conditions should improve, forecasters said. Visibility had been down to about an eighth of a mile at Spokane International Airports where some flights were being delayed on what is one of the busiest travel days of the year. However, the flight delays were blamed on snow in Minneapolis and heavy traffic through Seattle, not on the fog in Spokane, said Todd Woodard, spokesman for the airport here. Flights can land at Spokane International with visibilities as low as 600 feet. Operations staff reported that visibility was generally at a quarter mile or greater on the main runway.