'Perfect conditions' see Whangārei get rare thick blanket of fog

'Perfect conditions' saw fog blanket Whangārei - and Auckland - yesterday morning, leading to major disruption for flights at Whangārei Airport at Onerahi. Photo / Tania Whyte

"Perfect conditions" combined to create a thick blanket of fog over Whangārei yesterday, causing major disruption to flights from Whangārei Airport and a slower trip for commuters.

Yesterday was the second day in a row of fog, but it was far thicker than Thursday's mist, MetService meteorologist Lewis Ferris said.

Ferris said the thick fog also blanketed Auckland, but it was unusual for Northland to have such a pea souper.

''It's pretty rare to have it that foggy. For fog like that to occur, and it doesn't very often up there, you need the perfect conditions to occur and that's what happened, you've had the perfect fog conditions.''

Whangārei's Kissing Pt Marina, covered by a pea souper of fog yesterday morning. Photo / Tania Whyte

He said there needed to be a long night, little cloud and light winds - and Northland, particularly Whangārei, had them all.

''You can't get those thick fogs with just one of those conditions, although some places in the country - not Northland - may get it with two of them, but you need all three.''

Ferris said today could also start off foggy, but it was unlikely to be anything like as thick as Friday morning's blanket.

A Whangārei Airport spokesman said the fog caused major disruptions for flights in and out of the Onerahi-based airport, although most of the delays were caused by the thick fog that closed domestic flights from Auckland Airport.

Parua Bay Marina was covered in thick fog yesterday as perfect conditions combined to create the murkiness. Photo / Tania Whyte

The spokesman said if planes cannot take off or land in Auckland, that impacts other regional centres such as Whangārei, but the Onerahi Airport also had its own issues caused by the fog.

''If planes can't get into Auckland we can't get them back out again. Even after we cleared up here, Auckland was still very foggy.''

He said it led to major problems with flights delayed and disruption for passengers.