Winter storm delays flights for post-Christmas travelthe
A heavy winter storm that ran through the northern Plains this week and was moving into the Mid-Atlantic on Wednesday has impacted roads and airports across the United States, disrupting the year's busiest travel period as Americans return home from Christmas trips.
The blizzard-fueled weather brought forth heavy winds, snow and ice on Monday and Tuesday, when parts of Nebraska, South Dakota, Kansas, Colorado and Wyoming faced the worst of the storm. Whiteout conditions throughout these areas reduced visibility, which led to traffic and airline disturbances.
Rains from the storm's aftermath were expected to reach Washington, D.C., on Wednesday and farther northeast by late evening. Flood advisories and warnings were in place across New York, Massachusetts and Maryland, according to the National Weather Service.
On Tuesday, the day after Christmas, more than 7,500 flights within, into or out of the United States were delayed, according to tracking statistics from FlightAware. The Federal Aviation Administration told The Washington Post that only 4.6 percent of total flights were delayed Tuesday, mostly due to weather. The FAA also cited high passenger volume in the East Coast and popular ski areas.
Denver International Airport, a major hub for Southwest Airlines, had 48 percent of departing flights delayed but only 1 percent of departing flights canceled. Nearly 800 flights scheduled to leave or arrive in Denver were delayed Tuesday. There were also more than 500 total delays in both Charlotte and Orlando that day.
In Denver, FlightAware data shows Southwest accounted for 49 percent of the airport's delays Tuesday, amounting to 302 flights. United Airlines ran behind with 223 delays, and SkyWest had 116 delays.
Delays across airlines Wednesday afternoon appeared similar to the previous day. Between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tuesday, there were 685 delays reported by Flight Aware. Over the same span on Wednesday, there were 602 delays.
Shortly after 4:15 p.m. Wednesday, Orlando led domestic airports in total delays (380). According to an FAA spokesperson, fog and low-hanging clouds contributed to delays at Florida's busiest airport hub, as well as Palm Beach, Naples and Tampa.
In addition to weather concerns, two major airlines faced an additional challenge Wednesday: roads blocked by pro-Palestinian protests.
According to Steven Burns, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, police made 26 arrests for disorderly conduct and impeding vehicular traffic on the Van Wyck Expressway inside John F. Kennedy International Airport. The roadway was reopened 20 minutes after police were alerted to the protests, Burns said in a statement, and the Port Authority used two airport buses to transport travelers who were impeded by the protests over the Israel-Gaza war.
Similar protests took place at Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday. The airport told The Post there were temporary disruptions around roadway entrances, and it had reopened all vehicular and pedestrian access.
Despite the weather-related delays, the lack of cancellations marked a positive development for Southwest a year after a holiday travel meltdown in which the carrier canceled or significantly delayed about 16,900 flights. A year ago, inclement weather strained the carrier's operations beyond its ability to respond, impacting nearly 2 million travelers, according to the results of an investigation from the Transportation Department.
Last week, the department fined Southwest $140 million for multiple law violations. Southwest paid $600 million to passengers impacted by the meltdown, the agency said. The airline did not immediately respond Wednesday to requests for comment on its operations during this week's storm.
A large swath of the country has also faced treacherous driving conditions this week, but by Wednesday roads were slowly improving.
In North Dakota, officials lifted travel advisories as temperatures started to rise across the state. The situation in Nebraska had settled down significantly, with all highways accessible by Wednesday afternoon. On Christmas Day, Nebraska State Patrol responded to nearly 150 weather-related incidents.
By Wednesday afternoon Colorado had reopened all of its roads except for a cluster in the eastern part of the state near the Kansas and Nebraska lines. Drivers were advised to be aware of high winds and blowing snow.
The last bands of snow from this week's blizzard were winding down in Nebraska, South Dakota, Colorado and Kansas on Wednesday afternoon with an additional 2 or 3 inches of snow expected in some spots. Highs were expected near or above freezing in much of the region Wednesday and Thursday.
A separate zone of snow associated with the central U.S. storm will move through the Midwest into Wednesday night. St Louis may see its first light accu- mulation of the season.
The same central U.S. dip in the jet stream is also deliv- ering rain to the East Coast as another low-pressure area tracks from the Carolinas to offshore New England through Thursday. The storm is likely to drop an inch or more of rain along the I-95. corridor from Richmond to southern Maine, focused around D.C. on Wednesday, New York City on Wednesday night and Boston on Thursday.
This weekend, a series of storms will push into the West Coast. Periods of heavier rain tend to focus from the Pacific Northwest coastline southward along Interstate 5 to San Francisco by late Friday before shifting south through California into Saturday.
Andrea Sachs has written for Travel since 2000. She has reported from nearby places such as Ellicott City, Md., and the Jersey Shore, and from far-flung locations, including Burma, Namibia and Russia.
Ian Livingston is a forecaster/photographer and information lead for the Capital Weather Gang. By day, Ian is a defense and national security researcher at a D.C. think tank.