As of 1220ET, 505 flights have been cancelled in the US today (and 1,731 additional flights are subject to delays) as airlines both pre-emptively and reactively prepare for the worst case nor'easter due to hit the East Coast any hour now [3]. Chicago O'Hare is subject to the most flight delays, followed by New York's JFK. Newark, Laguardia, and Philadeplhia airports are seeing the most cancellations currently.
click image for live FlightAware map of all delays/cancellations in the US...
[4]
The worst hit airports are...
[5]
click image for live FlightAware map of all delays/cancellations in the US...
And it looks set to get worse, much worse... (as accuweather reports) [6]
A storm with rain, heavy snow, low clouds and poor visibility will cause major disruptions and delays for Thanksgiving travel on the East Coast and in the Appalachians into Wednesday night.
[7]
Enough rain, low clouds and fog will occur to lead to airline and highway delays ahead of the snow.
In anticipation of delays or cancellations, several airlines, including US Airways, American and Delta, have announced they will waive change fees for passengers scheduled to fly into airports in the line of the storm.
According to AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Elliot Abrams, "In most cases, the worst time to travel in the mid-Atlantic and New England due to the storm will be on Wednesday and Wednesday night."
Rain will initially spread northward along the Interstate-95 with snow and rain to start farther west in the I-81 corridor. However, a change to snow will take place from west to east from northern Virginia to New England.
The storm will bring mostly snow to the I-81 swath in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, I-84 in southeastern New York state, as well as much of interior New England, where a general 6-12 inches of snow are forecast.
"The storm should rapidly strengthen off the coast of New England on Wednesday night, leading to strong and gusty winds, especially near the coast," stated AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Ben Noll as he discussed the impacts in this storm scenario.
Problems due to blowing and drifting snow will be the greatest in northern and western New England. Farther south, winds will not be strong enough and the snow will be too wet for substantial blowing and drifting.
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It's not just the east coast
[8]
