The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued two consecutive ground stops at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) on November 12, 2026, after dense fog along the Bay Area shoreline reduced runway visibility to just over one-tenth of a mile. The low visibility forced multiple aircraft to abort landings, prompting FAA to halt arrivals twice before 11 a.m. Pacific Time.
After a brief improvement in visibility, the FAA implemented a ground-delay program, followed by a second ground stop starting at 10:12 a.m., initially scheduled to last until 11:30 a.m. FlightAware reported that the fog and ground stops led to delays for 187
flights and cancellations of three flights, with average arrival delays of about 63 minutes.
Flight Operations Restricted by Visibility
The low cloud deck and continued fog caused an extension of the ground stop, limiting operations to aircraft equipped for Category II and Category III instrument approaches at times throughout the morning. FAA’s operational plan extended the ground stop to 1 p.m. with a ground-delay program scheduled through 1:59 p.m. Visibility improved to approximately half a mile by 9:23 a.m., but lingering low clouds continued to restrict normal flight operations.
Forecast and FAA Plans for November 13
The National Weather Service forecast indicated more fog and low clouds overnight into November 13 in
the Bay Area. The FAA’s operational plan for November 13 noted that low ceilings and reduced visibility could again affect San Francisco International Airport operations, with a possible ground stop or ground-delay program beginning after 8 a.m. However, the FAA airport status update at 1:17 a.m. on November 13 reported no destination-specific delays at SFO, with general arrival and departure delays remaining at 15 minutes or less.
