Categories: Travel

Turbulent Skies: Southern Storms and Fog Disrupt Air Travel

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Summary

Numerous regions of the United States are encountering storms and heavy fog on Friday and Saturday, which could hinder post-Christmas travel—especially in the Northwest, South, and Midwest—as millions of Americans journey for the holiday season.

Passengers gather with their belongings at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on December 26 in Los … [+] Angeles, California.

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Crucial Information

Southern Weather Events: Weather systems affecting parts of Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana brought extreme weather and tornado incidents to the area on Thursday, which affected flight operations. Although the National Weather Service anticipates these storms will diminish by Friday, severe weather comprising thunderstorms and rainfall is expected to reappear on Saturday.

The National Weather Service’s facilities in New Orleans and Lake Charles, Louisiana; Little Rock, Arkansas, and Fort Worth, Texas, have indicated that storms may re-emerge on Saturday, although the New Orleans office observed that isolated storms are also likely on Friday, especially along the Mississippi shoreline.

Fog Warnings: Thick fog advisories are currently in effect throughout the U.S. on Friday morning that may impair drivers’ sight, impacting areas such as Texas, Wisconsin, Iowa, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Florida andMinnesota.

Northwestern Storms: Thunderstorms are anticipated to move through regions in the northwestern U.S. and northern Rocky Mountains throughout the weekend, as indicated by the National Weather Service predicted Friday morning, with sections of Washington, Oregon, and northern California likely receiving between three to five inches of precipitation by the weekend’s conclusion.

Warmer Temperatures: A significant portion of the U.S. is set to experience above-average temperatures this weekend, as per the National Weather Service, which forecasts unprecedented morning temperatures for this time of year in the central Plains, Mississippi Valley, Great Lakes, and mid-Atlantic areas at various times over Sunday.

How Is The Weather Affecting Travel?

The storms and dense fog resulted in considerable delays on Thursday, prompting Dallas-area airports to implement ground stops and FlightAware reported over 8,000 flight delays. These weather complications seem to be easing on Friday. The Federal Aviation Administration announced that nearly all major airports are no longer facing severe widespread delays as of 10 a.m. EST, although San Francisco International Airport is undergoing delays of around 40 minutes due to weather conditions. Travelers might encounter other more specific delays; major airports are noting extensive delays flying into Aspen, Colorado, due to weather, for example, and flights into Palm Beach International Airport are also delayed for over an hour due to high volume. Roughly 2,300 flights within, arriving at, or departing from the U.S. have been delayed as of 10 a.m. EST on Friday, according to FlightAware, with 80 flights being canceled.

Significant Figure

15.2 million. That’s the count of passengers who have already traveled through security checkpoints at U.S. airports this holiday season between Dec. 21 and Dec. 26, as reported by the Transportation Security Administration, with more than 2 million travelers daily. AAA forecasted record numbers for holiday travel this year, estimating 119 million individuals traveling more than 50 miles between Dec. 21 and Jan. 1—mostly by road.

Additional Reading

DFW and DAL airports implement ground stop due to severe weather (CBS News)

Powerful thunderstorms threaten Texas and Louisiana, delaying holiday travel (Associated Press)

This page was generated programmatically. To read the article in its original format, please visit the link below:
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