Pre-Thanksgiving Storms Delay Dozens Of Chicago Airport Flights

CHICAGO, IL — Thanksgiving travelers at Chicago O'Hare International Airport and Midway International Airport are among millions hung up at airports across the country Wednesday due to flight cancellations and delays as storm systems move across the country. A High Wind Warning was issued Wednesday morning by the National Weather Service for Chicago, and according to flightaware.com, there are more than 330 delays and two-dozen cancellations Wednesday at O'Hare airport. Over at Midway airport, 45 flights are delayed, while five are cancelled, the website reported.

Denver International Airport, a major hub, canceled more than 500 flights Wednesday, in addition to more than 8,000 delays at the airport, which could affect travel to and from Chicago O'Hare and Midway airports.

The Flightaware.com Misery Map shows what to expect across the country.

The storms will potentially affect travel through the weekend, setting up to the potential for travel headaches for Americans on their way home. A record 4.5 million of Americans planned to fly to their Thanksgiving destinations, according to the AAA travel group.

Related:

• Worst Time For Thanksgiving Travel Could Coincide With IL Storm
• High Wind Warning For IL: 60 MPH Winds Expected, Tornado Risk
• Nearly 2 Million Holiday Travelers Expected At O'Hare, Midway

The National Weather Service called the second storm “historic” and “unprecedented” for southwest Oregon and northwest California, where it will bring areas of damaging winds, heavy mountain snow and heavy rain to the West Coast through Thanksgiving Day.

Parts of Colorado had received more than a foot of snow by daybreak Tuesday, with more expected to fall in blizzard conditions. Some areas could see near-record snowfall. The National Weather Service in Boulder, Colorado “strongly discouraged” travel Tuesday as the storm had already closed several roads, including Interstates 76 and 70 across the Plains.

The current storm has prompted winter storm watches and warnings in effect through Wednesday across a large swatch of the central United States, from Colorado to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to as far south as Oklahoma and Iowa. Heavy winds are expected to cause more delays across large swaths of the country.

If the storm intensifies, it could bring heavy, windswept snow to the north and west of the affected area and severe thunderstorms to the south and east, the National Weather Service warns.

More: National Weather Service — Chicago

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