As snowy, wintery weather moved into the U.S. Saturday, more than 1,000 flights coming in and out of Chicago, Ill., airports had been canceled. Already, more than 130 flights scheduled for Sunday – predicted to be one the busiest travel days in history – were canceled too.
FlightAware data showed that there were more than 1,700 canceled flights coming into or out of the U.S., most at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. There were also more than 5,600 delays, many of them at O’Hare and Chicago’s Midway International Airport.
According to a Saturday notice from the National Weather Service, a “major winter storm over the central/northern Plains will spread eastward into the Midwest and Great Lakes region this weekend with widespread heavy snowfall and hazardous travel conditions.” It also said a “wintry pattern bringing well below average, chilly temperatures to much of the eastern and central U.S.,” was rolling in.
With the storm over the Northern and Central plans, heavy bands of snow were expected. That storm was expected to move east into the Upper Midwest Saturday night and spread over the Great Lakes region.
“Several states and regions are under Winter Weather Advisories and Winter Storm Warnings,” said the NWS. “The combination of heavy snow rates along with gusty winds will create dangerous travel conditions due to limited visibility and snow-covered roadways. The snow should taper off from west to east heading into Sunday morning.”
The Weather Channel identified two winter storms crossing the country this weekend: Winter storm Bellamy and Winter Storm Chan. It said Chan will bring snow and icing to the Midwest and Northeast.
CBS News reported Friday that some areas were already experiencing snow and cold temperatures following the Thanksgiving holiday. According to CBS News Philadelphia meteorologist Andrew Kozak, arctic air was “driving temperatures into the teens and 20s across the central U.S., with wind chills that will likely dip below zero before the weekend ends.”
He said that people out Black Friday shopping from Ohio to New England had a chance of getting caught in the wintery weather. Kozak also noted that Chicago – where all those flights have been canceled – could see up to 12 inches of snow, and he predicted major airports would be impacted.
An estimated 17.8 million people were expected to be screened by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) from Tuesday through Sunday, per the TSA. Senior Official Performing the Duties of Deputy TSA Administrator Adam Stahl said the department was “projecting that the Sunday after Thanksgiving will be one of the busiest travel days in TSA history.”
Audacy reported that AAA estimated 73 million people in the U.S. would be hitting the road to travel for the holiday. Snow, ice and winter storms can impact land and air travel alike.
NBC News said Saturday that around 53 million people from South Dakota to New York were under winter weather alerts as people began to gear-up post-Thanksgiving travel. In a Saturday X post, NWS Chicago said that “conditions will continue to deteriorate this afternoon as snowfall rates increase.”
With this snow, visibility was expected to be reduced to under one mile and the NWS warned that the snow-covered roads would make travel hazardous.
“If you have to be out allow for extra travel time and don't crowd the plows!” it said.