A pilot views a departure board at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) in Newark, Latest Jersey, on Monday, Jan. 3, 2022.
Christopher Occhicone | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Tens of millions across the country are waking as much as more severe weather Tuesday, with a whole lot of flights out and in of the East Coast canceled overnight after thunderstorms struck the region and a deadly heat wave smothered the South.
Greater than 715 flights in, to and out of the US were canceled as of early Tuesday, with almost 280 of those going to and out of Newark Liberty International Airport, in accordance with the net tracker FlightAware.
LaGuardia Airport had greater than 115 cancellations, while John F. Kennedy International Airport had greater than 70 and Boston Logan International Airport had almost 60.
Newark, LaGuardia and JFK all warned on Twitter that weather conditions were causing flight disruptions, delays and cancellations as they warned travelers to permit time beyond regulation and get in touch with their airlines for updates.
The National Weather Service warned that widespread clusters of showers and thunderstorms would hang over the region into the early hours of Tuesday, with one other front expected to bring more severe weather.
‘It’s definitely an adventure’
For Toya Stewart Downey and her family, the severe weather has caused major disruption, turning what was meant to be a direct flight from Latest York to Minneapolis right into a potentially dayslong journey.
Stewart Downey, 57, and her two children, Cameron, 24, and Dallas, who will soon turn 16, had been in Latest York to have a good time the upcoming birthday. After they arrived at LaGuardia around 4 p.m. ET for his or her 6:30 p.m. flight back to Minneapolis, they noticed a string of flights being canceled resulting from severe weather, but they held out hope their very own journey wouldn’t be affected.
After hours of waiting, they learned their very own flight had been delayed after which canceled resulting from severe weather, with the following flight available not until Thursday.
“We said we’ll take any flight to any city,” Stewart Downey, a communications director for a faculty district in Minnesota, said in a phone interview.
She said she and her family ended up having to take a Lyft, which she said Delta Air Lines paid for, all of the solution to Hartford, Connecticut, an almost 2-hour drive, in hopes of catching a flight to Detroit after which, finally, to Minneapolis.
The journey could lead to the family not arriving at their destination until Wednesday, she said.
“We sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience to their travel plans as weather and air traffic control challenges have impacted our operations,” a Delta spokesperson said. “We’re working to get them quickly and safely to their destination and encourage them to make use of the Fly Delta app for the most recent updates to their flights.”Â
The family had commitments at home in Minneapolis, Stewart Downey said, adding: “All of us need to get back as soon as possible.”
“It’s definitely an adventure,” Cameron said of the unexpected journey to get to home.
She said that after spending almost 9 hours at LaGuardia, after which having to take a Lyft within the early hours of Tuesday, her family was “drained, but I believe there’s enough to do and work out that it isn’t hard to stay up either.”
Had they waited for the Thursday flight, she said, it will have “type of felt outlandish that suddenly, I’d should be in Latest York for a whole week.”
More severe weather on the best way
More severe weather is anticipated in the realm, with the weather service warning that a front extending from parts of the Great Lakes/mid-Atlantic to the Southeast after which to the southern Plains was also moving toward the East Coast.
The associated front was expected to bring showers and moderate to severe thunderstorms over parts of Latest York state, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and North Carolina, with a marginal risk of severe thunderstorms over parts of the Northeast/mid-Atlantic through Wednesday morning, the weather service said in a later update.
“The hazards related to these thunderstorms are frequent lightning, severe thunderstorm wind gusts, hail, and a minimal threat of tornadoes,” it said.
Already, photos and videos shared on social media appeared to point out hail storms in areas in Pennsylvania and North Carolina on Monday.
Meanwhile, Latest York Gov. Kathy Hochul warned Monday that “severe weather is anticipated across the state this week, bringing with it persistent rain, thunderstorms and the potential to cause flash flooding.”
“Our state agencies are preparing emergency response assets and we’re in close contact with local governments across the state to make sure they’re prepared,” she said. “I encourage all Latest Yorkers to watch their local weather forecasts, concentrate to alerts and plan accordingly.”
Along the western end of the front moving eastward, showers and severe thunderstorms were expected to develop over parts of southern Kansas, Oklahoma, extreme southwestern Missouri and northwestern Arkansas, the weather service said, adding that an enhanced risk of severe thunderstorms was in place for parts of the central and southern Plains through Wednesday morning.
“The hazards related to these thunderstorms are frequent lightning, severe thunderstorm wind gusts, hail, and a couple of tornadoes,” together with the specter of “two-inch or greater hail,” it said.
Showers and severe thunderstorms were individually expected over parts of South Dakota and Nebraska.
Potentially record-breaking heat in Texas
As many braced for stormy conditions, residents of Texas and neighboring states proceed to face severe heat, which turned deadly after two people died mountaineering in Big Bend National Park.
Excessive heat warnings with triple digit heat indices were expected to proceed Tuesday, bringing potentially record-breaking temperatures, the weather service warned.
“The stagnant upper-level ridge over the south-central U.S. and resultant multi-week heatwave won’t only proceed but begin to expand in reach over the following couple of days because the ridge builds northeastward,” the weather service said in an internet update.
“Highs from southeastern Arizona through southern Latest Mexico and into Texas will remain within the 100s Tuesday, with upper 90s to 100s spreading northward into the Central Plains and Middle/Lower Missouri Valley in addition to east into the Lower Mississippi Valley Wednesday,” it said.
Some each day record-tying and even potentially record-breaking highs were “once more possible for portions of Texas and the Lower Mississippi Valley. “
Recovery after deadly storm
The death toll from severe weather across the country also continues to mount, with not less than three people killed after a storm front wreaked havoc Sunday within the Midwest and the South.
One person was killed when a tornado felled a house in Martin County, Indiana, in accordance with officials, with Cameron Wolf, director of Martin County Emergency Management, confirming the death and saying the victim’s injured partner was airlifted to a hospital.
In Arkansas, two people were also killed when a tree fell on a house in Carlisle, The Associated Press reported. A 3rd person was also injured within the incident, in accordance with the outlet.
Elsewhere, more homes were damaged, roadways were blocked by tree limbs and debris, and enormous hail was reported as the identical storm front moved through south and central Indiana and adjoining states.
