San Francisco’s favorite foggy mascot, @KarlTheFog, has awoken from his Twitter slumber for the first time since January 2020! The beloved account posted a new tweet on Thursday morning, delighting its 345,000 Twitter followers.
Oh, hey down there. I know it’s been awhile, so hope you still recognize me 🤞 (I put on a few metric tons over the last two years).
Moved in with my parents in Point Reyes at the start of the pandemic. The free rent was great, but nothing beats hanging 6ft away from you.
— Karl the Fog ☁️ (@KarlTheFog) January 20, 2022
Karl’s newest tweet came right as a particularly dense fog bank settled over the Bay, decreasing visibility to as low as 1/4 mile and causing NWS Bay Area to issue a Dense Fog Advisory.
“Oh, hey down there. I know it’s been awhile, so hope you still recognize me 🤞 (I put on a few metric tons over the last two years),” wrote Karl. “Moved in with my parents in Point Reyes at the start of the pandemic. The free rent was great, but nothing beats hanging 6ft away from you.”
Karl went on to post an all-gray Wordle result and retweet a foggy picture by SJ Mercury News photographer Karl Mondon.
Fog ain’t messing around today. pic.twitter.com/cyD3qFiK9n
— Karl Mondon (@karlmondon) January 20, 2022
He most recently gave a shoutout to his unofficial replacement, Karla the Fog (@fog_karla), a smaller account that tried to “fill the void” when Karl left Twitter. “It’s great to see more clouds on here,” wrote Karl.
Not sure either; I don’t recognize that tendril but I’ve never seen all of me so who knows. I do know that @fog_karla is fun and been repping the Bay Area with pride. It’s great to see more clouds on here. So, follow Karla (from bay to breakers)! 🌁 https://t.co/KsjIkVmxTI
— Karl the Fog ☁️ (@KarlTheFog) January 21, 2022
The anonymous Twitter account christened the Bay Area fog “Karl” back in 2010, taking inspiration from the giant, friendly monster in the 2003 film Big Fish. The account has since amassed nearly 350,000 followers, and an Instagram account by the same name has 250,000. Countless weather presenters and SF residents affectionately refer to the fog as Karl, and a book was even released documenting his adventures! Nevertheless, the @KarltheFog Twitter account remains anonymous to this day.
For many, Karl has become a household name, and most SF residents refer to the fog as such. That said, some more long-term San Franciscans don’t necessarily approve of Karl/Karla’s origin story. SF’s gentrification and skyrocketing rent prices are devastating to many who grew up here, making them somewhat loath to incorporate new terms generally used by outsiders. “I just feel that naming the fog Karl is gentrification,” said one follower in response to our Karl the Fog poll from last year. “You should ask those Karl folk how many of them are Bay natives,” said another.
Wordle 215 6/6
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩(also a live view of SF this morning) https://t.co/ILFL6TQ6QQ
— Karl the Fog ☁️ (@KarlTheFog) January 20, 2022
Regardless, Karl the Fog was welcomed back with enthusiasm by hundreds of followers on Twitter. “We’ve mist you,” wrote @NWSBayArea. “This hits harder than when Steve from Blues Clues came back,” wrote @DoTheBay.
For now, Karl has still not returned to Instagram, and we have yet to see if these latest tweets are just a brief hello or if he’s back for good. You can follow Karl at @KarlTheFog on Twitter to stay up to date!
Featured image: Thomas Ciszewski on Unsplash