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Super Bowl LIX weekend could see a surprise guest. No, not Beyonce or Bad Bunny.
As more than 60,000 sports fans travel to the New Orleans area to begin the football festivities, forecasters on Friday warned of the potential for dangerous superfog thanks to a marsh fire that’s currently burning near The Big Easy. Superfog is a combination of smoke and moisture released from damp smoldering material with cooler, nearly saturated air.
It impacts visibility, which can decrease to less than 10 feet.
“Under light wind conditions, super fog meanders through low terrain areas such as creek beds or drainage ditches. Super fog can be very dangerous when present over highways, and has been the cause of several large, multi-vehicle pileups,” the National Weather Service notes.
Superfog was responsible for a series of vehicle crashes on Interstate 55 in 2023. The crashes resulted in the deaths of seven people and injured 25.
On Friday, the same interstate was shut down after a pileup in the St. John the Baptist Parish.
An advisory was issued through the mid-morning, as foggy weather conditions were made worse by smoke from a marsh fire in St. Charles Parish. It was not immediately clear if it would remain a hazard by game day, when the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles.
Of course, wildfire smoke comes with its own health risks, affecting the lungs and heart.
The fire is located to the southwest of New Orleans, but there is little that can be done to extinguish it, authorities said, according to NOLA.com.
“I just noticed it coming out now, but I noticed some smoke last week, too,” Troy Robin told WWLTV.
“It’s one of the worst I’ve seen. Sometimes it gets bad enough that we have ash falling in our driveways,” he said.
Laplace, Slidell, and New Orleans have the greatest risk of experiencing super fog Friday night.
“Superfog will be possible across the Southshore and Lake Pontchartrain, causing NEAR ZERO VISIBILITY. USE EXTREME CAUTION!!” the National Weather Service wrote in a post on social media.
Drivers should use low beams, expect a slow commute, and be cautious on roads.
“Do not stop in the middle of the road as that can cause accidents!” it said.
