In a Monday afternoon tweet, George Bush Intercontinental Airport announced it would be closed till at least 1 p.m. CST Tuesday and requested travelers to stay away from the airport. It was a similar story at William P. Hobby, which stated it would close until noon on Tuesday.
A winter storm pummeled the Midwest and South Monday, closing both of Houston’s airports and racking up more than 3,800 canceled flights nationwide.
At Dallas-Fort Worth International, icy conditions resulted in inbound flights being held and the shutdown of the airport’s Skylink light-rail system due to ice and low temperatures.
More than 150 million individuals were under a winter storm warning, winter weather advisory, or ice storm warning in 25 states, stretching over 2,000 miles from southern Texas to northern Maine, the National Weather Service said.
Power outages were widespread Monday. In Texas alone, more than 2.5 million customers have been in the dark as of 2 p.m. local time, according to power outage.us, a utility tracking site.
The weather service predicted heavy snow and significant ice accumulations from Tennessee and Ohio Valleys to the Northeast and stated that “frigid Arctic air and dangerously cold wind” would persist within the Great Plains and Mississippi Valley by midweek.
“This spectacular onslaught of wicked wintry climate across a lot of the Lower 48 is due to the combination of strong Arctic high strain supplying sub-freezing temperatures and an active storm track escorting waves of precipitation from coast-to-coast,” the weather service explained in its alert.
As of 8 p.m. EST, FlightAware had reported more than 3,800 canceled flights throughout the nation for Monday and more than 2,900 delays. More than 2,000 flight cancellations are predicted for Tuesday. Dallas-Fort Worth Intercontinental led the global list of airports with the most cancellations and Dallas-based Southwest had the most cancellations of any carrier Monday.
Southwest was one of several airways to issue weather waivers to prevent passengers and planes from becoming stranded. Although the covered destinations and dates vary, most include most of the major airports in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas.
Flights weren’t the one transportation impacted. The ice in Houston contributed to nearly 120 crashes that were reported Sunday, including a 10-car pileup on I-45, Samuel Peña, town’s fire chief, tweeted.
“Folks please know the slush you see on our roadways will refreeze soon and driving will be extra treacherous than final night,” Police Chief Art Acevedo pleaded in a tweet Monday afternoon. “Please avoid travel as temperatures drop and roadways ice.”
American Airlines
Dates covered: Feb. 15-17
Destinations covered: 22, including Dallas, Houston, and Austin in Texas and Oklahoma City and Tulsa in Oklahoma
Details: https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/travel-alerts.jsp
Delta Air Lines
Dates covered: Feb. 15
Destinations covered: 16, including major Texas and Oklahoma airports as well as New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Shreveport in Louisiana and Little Rock, Arkansas
Details: https://www.delta.com/us/en/advisories/weather-alerts/southern-and-central-plains-winter-weather
Frontier Airlines
Dates covered: Feb. 15
Destinations covered: 11, including Denver and Colorado Springs as well as the major airports in Texas and Louisiana
Details: https://www.flyfrontier.com/alert/?mobile=true
JetBlue Airways
Dates covered: Feb. 15
Destinations covered: Austin, Dallas, and Houston
Details: https://www.jetblue.com/travel-alerts
Southwest Airlines
Dates covered: Feb. 15
Destinations covered: 29, including most major Texas and Oklahoma airports as well as Nashville and Memphis in Tennessee; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Louisville, Kentucky
Details: https://www.southwest.com/html/advisories/swa_travel_advisory_20211121613166659852.html
United Airlines
Dates covered: Feb. 15-16
Destinations covered: United has issued 4 different waivers. The first covers Denver’s travel for Monday only. The second covers travel on Monday and Tuesday for 24 locations throughout Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana as well as western Pennsylvania and New York. The third covers travel in and out of Houston for Monday. The fourth covers Monday’s travel out of 32 different cities, including most of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas.
Details: https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/travel/notices.html
