Tuesday, January 16, 2024
The United States is currently experiencing a severe wave of arctic cold temperatures and conditions, leading to significant disruptions in air travel. As reported by FlightAware, more than 9,100 flight delays and cancellations have been recorded within, into, or out of the U.S. as of 4 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday.
Extreme Cold Snap
The extreme cold weather has particularly impacted flight schedules, with about 2,515 flights canceled and an additional 6,594 delayed by Monday afternoon. These numbers continued to rise throughout the day, signaling the widespread impact of the harsh weather conditions.
Airline Chaos
Texas airports, notably Houston Bush and Dallas-Fort Worth, experienced the highest number of cancellations. Houston saw 180 departing flights canceled, while Dallas had 213 incoming flights canceled. Chicago O’Hare and Denver International Airport followed closely, each with over 135 cancellations affecting both inbound and outbound flights.
Among the airlines, Alaska Airlines canceled 166 flights, which equates to 24% of its scheduled flights for the day. Southwest Airlines canceled 719 flights, representing 18% of its schedule, while United Airlines canceled 349 flights, or 13% of its total flights, as per FlightAware data.
Severe Weather Condition
The weather conditions have been particularly harsh in the Plains states. The National Weather Service predicts wind chills as low as -30 degrees in Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska, and even more extreme temperatures of -50 degrees in Montana and the Dakotas. These temperatures are expected to persist for another day before a slight warming around Wednesday, followed by another drop in temperatures in the Midwest and Deep South by Friday.
The Federal Aviation Administration highlights the dangers of ice and snow for aircraft, noting that ice can severely hamper the functioning of wings, control surfaces, and propellers, and complicate landing and takeoff procedures.
Millions at Risk
An estimated 102 million people were at risk of extreme wind chill around early Monday, with 72 million under winter weather advisories and about 22 million under a winter storm warning. The National Weather Service warns that these “sub-zero wind chills” will continue to affect much of the Rockies, Great Plains, and Midwest into Tuesday.
Arctic Blast leads to Travel Disruption
The National Weather Service has indicated that most of the lower 48 states will experience cold temperatures and wintry conditions throughout Tuesday, followed by another arctic blast later in the week. This severe weather has already led to thousands of flight delays and cancellations, exacerbating travel disruptions for airlines, some of which were already dealing with issues related to Boeing 737-Max 9 planes.
In the midst of these conditions, the Iowa Caucus is set to proceed on Monday night, despite expected wind chill temperatures as low as -30 in Des Moines. This could potentially make it the coldest Iowa Caucus in history, surpassing the 1972 caucus that experienced a wind chill of -26 degrees.
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Sunday, April 28, 2024
