Winter storm strands thousands at US airports ahead of Christmas holiday

Washington: Thousands of Americans have been left stranded at US airports due to a massive winter storm ahead of the Christmas holiday, The Hill reported on Friday.

More than 3,000 US flights were cancelled or delayed on Friday due to severe winter weather in most of the country, the FlightAware.com portal reported. "Total cancellations within, into, or out of the United States today: 3,315," the tracker said. Another 1,400 flights were delayed, it added.

Well over 300 flights were cancelled in such airports as LaGuardia near New York City, Settle-Tacoma International in the state of Washington, as well as in Detroit and both airports in Chicago.
More than 170 flights, or almost 20 per cent, were cancelled at the Reagan National Airport in the US capital area. Almost 140 flights were cancelled in two other airports in the region - Baltimore-Washington and Dulles International.
US National Weather Service (NWS) has warned about heavy snow, strong winds and life-threatening cold for the central and eastern parts of the country.

About 60 per cent of the country is currently under some kind of winter weather warning, ranging from the Great Lakes states along the Canadian border to the southern states along the Gulf of Mexico, The Hill reported.
"A powerful winter storm and sharp cold front will continue to produce snow from the Midwest and Ohio Valley through the Great Lakes and interior Northeast into this weekend. The combination of very cold temperatures and gusty to high winds over much of the central and eastern U.S. will continue dangerous wind chill temperatures behind the sharp cold front," the warning read.

Over 200 million people, or roughly 60 per cent of the US population, are under winter weather warnings or advisories across the country, it added.
Giving his remarks on severe winter weather, US President Joe Biden on Thursday warned about a "very serious weather alert." "So I encourage everyone -- everyone, please heed the local warnings. We've contacted -- we've tried to contact 26 governors so far in affected regions."

"And my team is prepared to help communities weather this -- no pun intended -- this storm, this -- this freeze, and -- because we need to cope. They need to be able to cope if it's necessary," he added. (ANI)