What the app shows you
Full FogCast score, fog type, chase-or-skip verdict, and 10-day outlook — all in the app.
Get LightCast Suite on iOS
Know before you drive: FogCast checks the conditions that produce photogenic fog
Get more than a snapshot of current conditions. The LightCast app unlocks everything to plan ahead
Humidity alone isn't enough. Wind alone isn't enough. Cloud cover alone isn't enough. Photogenic valley fog requires several conditions to line up at once, and most weather apps don't read them together.
Set a FogCast threshold once. The app will alert you when conditions at your saved locations look promising, so you're not manually checking at 4am.
Don't waste a sunrise drive. Check FogCast before you leave.
Download on the App StoreCrater Lake sits at 1,883 meters elevation in a collapsed volcanic caldera, and the combination of its high altitude, cold water, and surrounding mountain terrain creates unique fog and low cloud conditions. Morning mist often rises from the lake surface and drifts up the caldera walls, producing a scene unlike almost anywhere else in the country.
Rim Village and Cloudcap Overlook offer the most direct elevated views of fog forming over the lake. When a temperature inversion is in place, fog fills the caldera below the rim while the overlooks sit in clear air above, creating a bowl of cloud with Wizard Island emerging from the mist. The effect is most common in late summer and fall.
Late summer through early fall is the best window, from August through October, when overnight cooling is sharp and lake-effect mist is most common. The park road at the rim is accessible only in summer: snow closes most of it by November. Arrive before sunrise for the best chance of catching fog before it burns off.