Airlines have canceled almost 1,500 flights across the U.S. for Saturday as a powerful winter storm threatens wide swaths of the country with heavy snow, ice, and freezing rain.
According to tracking website FlightAware, Dallas/Forth Worth, Dallas Love Field, and Oklahoma City reported the highest number of cancellations, with half or more of their daily schedules affected. Memphis and Nashville in Tennessee, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Little Rock, Arkansas, and Lubbock, Amarillo, and Midland in Texas are also seeing more cancellations than usual.
All of these airports sit in the path of this weekend’s winter storm, which is expected to bring heavy snow, perhaps as much as two feet, to parts of the Midwest, South, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast between Friday and Monday. The system will likely be at its most severe in the Upper South, between Texas and Oklahoma and the Carolinas.
The National Weather Service is warning of “catastrophic ice accumulation” from the Southern Plains to the Southeast.
Extreme cold is predicted for parts of the Upper Midwest, and residents there are being advised to stay inside and keep warm.
Several major airlines, including United, Delta, American, Southwest, and Spirit, have temporarily waived change fees to allow passengers to switch their flights. American said Thursday that it is repositioning aircraft and adding staff at certain airports to help minimize disruptions during and after the storm.
