The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued two ground stops at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) on Monday morning, November 12, 2026, after dense fog along the Bay Area shoreline reduced runway visibility to just over one-tenth of a mile. This low visibility led to multiple aircraft aborting landings and executing go-arounds.
Timing and Visibility Changes
The first FAA ground stop occurred before 11 a.m. Pacific Time. After visibility briefly improved to about half a mile by 9:23 a.m., a ground-delay program was implemented. However, the FAA imposed a second ground stop beginning at 10:12 a.m., which was initially scheduled to last until 11:30 a.m.
FAA operational plans indicated a potential extension of the ground stop through 1 p.m. and a ground-delay program until 1:59 p.m., as low clouds continued to hamper airport operations.
Flight Disruptions and Delays
FlightAware reported that 187 flights were delayed and three flights canceled at SFO on November 12. Arrival delays averaged approximately 63 minutes during the disruption caused by dense fog and continued low cloud cover. The FAA noted numerous go-arounds resulting from the poor visibility conditions, exacerbating delays and limiting landing capacity.
Operational Restrictions Due to Weather
San Francisco International Airport was able to accept landings only from aircraft equipped for Category II and Category III instrument
approaches during periods of low visibility. The dense fog bank and persistent low cloud deck along the Bay Area shoreline severely restricted normal operations, reducing the volume of arrivals and complicating flight scheduling on one of the region’s busiest gateways.
Weather Forecast and Extended Impact
The National Weather Service forecasted continued fog and low clouds overnight into Tuesday, November 10, 2026, with low ceilings and reduced visibility expected to remain constraints at SFO. The FAA’s early morning airport status update on Tuesday reported no destination-specific delays at SFO and indicated general arrival and departure delays under 15 minutes, suggesting some operational improvement following the November
12 disruptions.
Passengers at San Francisco International Airport experienced delayed arrivals averaging over an hour due to the FAA’s ground stops triggered by dense fog and limited runway visibility. Operational restrictions to aircraft with advanced instrument approach capabilities further compounded the challenges faced by flights scheduled to land at SFO during the fog event.
