Over 10,000 Flights in US Canceled or Delayed Amid Severe Weather

An American Airlines plane taxis past planes at their gates at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Ariz., on July 12, 2023. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images/TNS)

More than 10,000 flights into and out of the United States were canceled or delayed on July 17 as severe weather continued to plague parts of the country, wreaking havoc on multiple airports.

Approximately 8,671 flights within, into, or out of the United States were delayed Monday, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware, while 1,817 were canceled.

That number still marked a decline from a day prior on Sunday, when more than 10,000 flights were delayed and nearly 3,000 were canceled.

According to Monday’s data, Orlando International Airport in Florida saw the highest number of delays and cancellations, followed by Fort Lauderdale International, also in Florida, with those airports suffering the knock-on effects of travel issues plaguing other airports across the country.

Harry Reid International in Paradise, Nevada, and Miami International also saw hundreds of delays.

In terms of airlines, JetBlue saw the most impact on flights, with 57 percent of flights delayed Monday and 8 percent canceled, followed by Delta Air Lines with 27 percent of flights delayed and a total of 2 percent canceled, according to FlightAware data.

American Airlines followed close behind with 33 percent of the air carrier’s flights delayed Monday and 2 percent canceled.

On Sunday, the severe weather led to ground stops at John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports in New York and Newark Airport in New Jersey, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Meanwhile, Newark Liberty International Airport also canceled hundreds of flights.

The flight delays and cancellations came as heavy rains battered the northeast over the weekend, prompting flash flooding alerts and tornado watches for parts of Connecticut, western Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, and New Hampshire.

Onlookers check out a flooded road in Chester, Vt., on July 10, 2023. (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

Flash Flooding Sweeps Family Away

In New York, parts of which had already been impacted by recent flash flooding, Suffolk County experienced up to five inches of rain in just two hours over the weekend, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Meanwhile, Westchester and Putnam counties experienced rainfall rates of up to two inches per hour over the weekend, the governor said.

“With areas in the state undergoing flash flood warnings, I encourage New Yorkers to remain vigilant and monitor weather conditions,” Ms. Hochul said Sunday. “My administration is working tirelessly to ensure that we are prepared for any additional weather impacts during this time period.”

Severe flooding in New York last week resulted in the death of a 43-year-old woman identified by police as Pamela Nugent.

Police said Ms. Nugent was killed while trying to escape flooding at her home in Orange County—about 65 miles north of New York City—with her dog when she was swept away by rapid waters.

Elsewhere over the weekend, flash flooding in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, killed five people on Saturday, authorities said.

Police are still searching for a 2-year-old girl and her 9-month-old brother who were reportedly visiting from Charleston, South Carolina with their family when they got caught in the flooding.

Their father and young sibling “miraculously” survived the incident while their mother was found dead, Upper Makefield Fire Chief Tim Brewer said Sunday.

“As they tried to escape the fierce floodwaters, dad took his 4-year-old son while the mother and the grandmother grabbed the two additional children, aged 9 months and 2 years,” he told local media. “However the grandmother, the mother, and the two children were swept away by the floodwaters,” Brewer said.

“We continue to look for the two children. We are not going to give up,” he added.

Four other people were also killed by the flooding in Bucks County, according to authorities.

While parts of the United States were being battered by torrential rain and storms over the weekend, a string of states including Florida—where most of the recent flight delays occurred—as well as Nevada and Texas, were under heat alerts as of late Monday, according to Heat.gov.

A heat advisory sign is shown along U.S. highway 190 during a heat wave in Death Valley National Park in Death Valley, California, on July 16, 2023. (Ronda Churchill/AFP via Getty Images)

‘Record-Breaking’ Heat

According to the National Weather Service (NWS), the “record-breaking” heat is expected to continue across Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Texas to the Lower Mississippi Valley and South Florida this week.

“Daytime highs will reside in the triple digits in the Desert Southwest and Texas,” NWS said in a Tuesday bulletin. “The Gulf Coast and Mid-South can expect daytime highs in the upper 90s that coincide with oppressively high dew points, resulting in sweltering heat indices between 105-115F [40 to 46 degrees Celsius].”

“Daily low temperatures will remain quite warm, breaking record warm daily minimums in some areas, allowing for minimal relief from the heat overnight,” it added.

An expansive area of excessive heat warnings and heat advisories also remains in the southwest, Southern Plains, western and central Gulf Coast, and parts of South Florida.

However, some slight relief is in sight for the northeast and mid-Atlantic which, thanks to a cold frontal passage, will see less muggy conditions by Wednesday.

“To the west, a pair of cold fronts will provide the Midwest and Great Lakes with cooler than normal temperatures,” NWS said, although “some locations in the Upper Midwest will struggle to get out of the 70s for highs on Tuesday.

Amid soaring temperatures, health officials are warning Americans to take precautions such as wearing lightweight, loose-fitting clothing and drinking plenty of fluids while advising people to stay indoors in air-conditioned buildings as much as possible, including shopping malls or public libraries.

Last week, officials in Texas confirmed the first heatwave-related death after a 67-year-old man died in southwest Houston. According to reports, the man did not have any air conditioning in his home.