Winter Storm Fern has already blanketed parts of the South and Plains with ice and snow and was still moving across the Northeast on Monday.
The Northeast was taking the final snowfall from Winter Storm Fern Monday morning, but widespread dangerous travel will linger for days and “catastrophic” ice accumulations in the South are leading to power outages and tree damage, according to NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center.
The number of deaths is rising with at least 15 deaths blamed on the storm, not counting the crash Sunday night of a private jet in Maine that killed seven. To add insult to injury, Arctic cold is settling in just as hundreds of thousands have no power.
Airports Digging Out; Flights Resuming
Major airports in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic saw significant shutdowns with many flights grounded—especially on Sunday. Some hubs like Reagan National and portions of New York airports were effectively halted during the worst of the storm.
About 19,450 flights within, into or out of U.S. airports were canceled between Saturday and 7 a.m. ET on Monday, according to data from FlightAware, with Sunday the worst day for cancellations since the early days of the pandemic.
Disruption continued on Monday, with 3,700 flights canceled as of 7 a.m. ET, per FlightAware. At that time, Boston Logan Airport appeared to be the worst affected, with 60 percent of its departing flights canceled, though Logan announced some flights canceled on Sunday would depart Monday.
Delta teams were also planning to resume operations as conditions improve and weather permits. Flights at stations in the Ohio and Tennessee Valley regions began slowly resuming Sunday evening. The airline also is closely monitoring conditions in the Northeast and at its Atlanta hub.
Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport was the worst affected this weekend, with about 75 percent of its scheduled flights canceled. Four inches of snow fell in 48 hours at the airport, which is American Airlines‘ main hub.
Another American hub, Charlotte Douglas, saw the second-most cancellations, while Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson ranked third.
The New York City area’s three airports—JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark—each saw about 1,500 cancellations. Close to 10 inches of snowfall was recorded at each location, the local CBS News outlet reported.
Disruptions are continuing into Monday, but complete recovery is a process as snow, ice and freezing rain clear and runways can be fully serviced before operations can resume.
Many airlines have issued travel waivers that extend through at least Monday, Jan. 26, and in some cases allow rebooking into the end of the month without penalties.
Passengers are encouraged to check their flight’s status directly before heading to the airport.
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