Meet the person who took the viral photo of fog in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS (KMOV) - A picture of fog covering St. Louis went viral after a St. Louis County man posted it on Facebook.

On Saturday morning, Philip Patterson took a photo of St. Louis while on a flight from Tampa, Florida, to St. Louis.

The picture shows fog covering most of the city while tall city buildings and the Arch appear half-covered in the fog.

Since posting the photo to Facebook, thousands of people have shared it.

Patterson’s flight couldn’t land at St. Louis Lambert International Airport due to visibility. The flight had to be diverted to Kansas City.

“He got on the intercom and said that there was like zero visibility and no flights can land right now in St. Louis,” Patterson told News 4. “When we were diverted in Kansas City, I posted the photo. Even before we took off, there were quite a few people responding to it and sharing it.”

“That was a pretty incredible picture,” said Bradley Charboneau with the National Weather Service in the St. Louis region. “Fog that dense, especially right in the City of St. Louis, it’s pretty unusual.”

According to the NWS, the total time for fog in the city on Saturday with visibility less than or equal to 1/4 of a mile was one hour and 48 minutes. For 1/16 of a mile, it was 40 minutes (7:05 a.m.-7:45 a.m.).

The typical average for a year in the area for visibility less than or equal to 1/4 miles is five hours.

The NWS says factors like temperature, plus a cloudy and rainy day the night before and clouds clearing at sunset, made the fog even denser by the next morning.

Patterson said individuals interested in getting a copy of his photo can message him on Facebook or Instagram.

“To know that people will have my work in their house--their businesses. It’s really pretty powerful,” he added.

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