The threat of severe thunderstorms threw air travel into chaos across the New York City area Tuesday morning, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights.
According to FlightAware, there have been more than 800 cancellations and 300 delays at the major NYC and New Jersey air transportation hubs. As of 11:30 a.m., LaGuardia has been the hardest hit so far with 400 cancellations of flights into or out of the airport and more than 100 delays. At JFK, more than 300 flights were canceled with more than 100 delays, while Newark is facing more than 200 cancellations and around 120 delays so far.
The Federal Aviation Administration noted the arrival delays on average have been longer than an hour.
The air traffic comes after the FAA on Monday issued ground stops at the trio of airports due to staffing shortages, posing another obstacle in addition to the incoming storms, which have also prompted the New York City Office of Emergency Management to issue a travel advisory on Tuesday.
“We are urging people to plan extra travel time and be cautious while traveling,” the agency said. “2-4 inches of rain is likely, citywide with locally higher amounts. Rainfall rates might exceed 2 inches per hour and could lead to flooding in some areas.”
What’s more, New York City and much of the tristate area on Tuesday was under a flood watch that is set to last until Wednesday evening.
While Tuesday started off mostly dry, albeit a bit gray, thunderstorms are expected to strike around noon, bringing with them heavy rain that will continue into the evening, the National Weather Service said. The rainfall should taper off overnight, but meteorologists warned it could linger into Wednesday morning.