A winter storm moving east through the Mid-Atlantic region brought snow, icy roads and frigid temperatures on Monday to millions of people returning to daily routines after the two-week Christmas holiday period. In addition to snow days and closed offices, the storm also interrupted travel across parts of the country with delayed and canceled trains and airplanes.
More than 8,000 flights at airports, from Texas to New York, were delayed or canceled, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking service. Airports in the Greater Washington, D.C., metro area were most affected, with more than 70 percent of the departures at Ronald Reagan National Airport canceled. Reagan Airport said that it closed all runways Monday evening to allow airport crews to focus on snow removal before temperatures dropped further. Emily McGee, a spokeswoman for the airport, said that while terminals would remain open with limited services, the runways would likely remain closed until Tuesday morning.
Philadelphia International Airport and Kennedy International Airport in New York relied on ground stops during the day to manage air traffic and prevent airports from being overwhelmed, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. More than 400 delayed departures were announced at Chicago O’Hare International Airport and the number of delayed flights were creeping up at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
Among the carriers hardest hit were American Airlines, with more than 930 flights delayed, or 27 percent of their daily routes, and Southwest Airlines, which delayed more than 950 flights, or 26 percent of its daily schedule, according to FlightAware. Southwest also canceled more than 400 flights.
Southwest, Delta Air Lines and other airlines issued travel waivers allowing customers to rebook their travel with no change fees through more than a dozen cities hit by winter weather.
Train service was also significantly disrupted. Citing severe winter weather and equipment issues, Amtrak canceled dozens of trains in the Northeast and Midwest. Destinations affected included Boston, Washington, New York, Chicago and Raleigh, N.C.
Travel was expected to remain snarled throughout Monday evening. Washington and Baltimore could get more light snow as the storm moves on, the National Weather Service said, and parts of New England could see snow in the days to come. Another winter storm is anticipated to affect Texas later this week.
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