Energy & Environment

Thousands of flights canceled as winter storm slams East Coast

Winter storms that began across the Eastern U.S. this past weekend have caused thousands of flight cancellations and power outages across the region.

More than 5,000 flights flying into, out of or within the U.S. were canceled on Sunday and nearly 10,000 were delayed, according to FlightAware’s live cancellation statistic. As of Monday morning, more than 3,000 additional U.S. flights have been canceled and another 3,000 delayed.

East Coast airports including North Carolina’s Charlotte Douglas International Airport, the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and the John F. Kennedy International Airport all currently rank as being among the most “miserable,” according to FlightAware’s “Misery Map,” indicating higher degrees of flight disruptions.

The Charlotte Douglas International Airport issued a winter weather advisory on Monday morning saying most airlines would be able to resume full operation by the afternoon, though weather conditions in other parts of the country may affect flight plans. Deicing operations are currently underway and customers have been warned to be cautious of black ice when traveling to the airport.

According to the PowerOutage.us monitoring project, more than 170,000 customers along the East Coast are currently experiencing power outages, with South Carolina reporting the highest volume of outages at nearly 30,000.

According to the National Weather Service, the winter storm currently going over the northeast U.S. is expected to go into southeastern Canada by Tuesday. Light snow will also continue to continue to fall in part of the Central Appalachians.