East Coast Severe Weather: Thunderstorms Causes Widespread Air Travel Disruption

Severe weather and thunderstorms have engulfed the East Coast of the United States in recent days, causing widespread air travel disruption across the region. Thousands of flights were either delayed or canceled due to severe storms ahead of the holiday weekend in early July. Millions of passengers in the U.S. with domestic and international flights are estimated to be affected by the travel chaos.

Diversion of flights was also reported as the disruption caused a chain of reactions not just in the Eastern Seaboard but also in other parts of the country. In the coming days, similar incidents are likely to continue due to the inclement weather. The recent disrupted trips could also impact succeeding flights booked earlier this week.

The U.S. is almost a month into its summer season which started on June 1. So far, it was marked by severe thunderstorms, especially in the southern and southeastern parts of the country, where some tornado outbreaks left several fatalities and infrastructural damage earlier this month. Meanwhile, a historic heatwave was also reported across the South U.S. in recent days.

Air Travel Disruption

The travel chaos for millions of air passengers continued for the fourth consecutive day as of Tuesday, June 27. More than 9,000 flights across the U.S. were delayed or canceled after catastrophic storms ravaged different parts of the country, including the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions, where many transport hubs are located, CNN reported on Wednesday, June 28.

Some of the affected airports are La Guardia Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport, and Newark Liberty International Airport, where arrival and departure flights were blocked amid thunderstorms in the New York area, according to a statement by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), as cited by the U.S. media outlet.

The number of air travelers are expected to increased on or before July 4 where the nation will celebrate its Independence Day, an annual holiday also called the Fourth of July.

East Coast Severe Weather

The severe weather in the East Coast and its surrounding regions is possibly far from over, as the National Weather Service (NWS) forecasted a slight risk of severe thunderstorms over some parts of the Upper Mississippi Valley on Wednesday, June 28. This weather system will also move to the Middle Mississippi or Ohio Valleys on Thursday, June 29.

In addition, a persistent upper-level energy hovering above the Northeast U.S. will cause showers with thunderstorms until Friday, June 30. During this period, additional air travel disruptions are expected nationwide, continuing even on the Independence Day weekend.

In recent years, severe weather in the U.S. has also caused massive travel disruptions across the country. In November 2022, severe storms and the risk for tornadoes caused thousands of flights to be delayed after Thanksgiving, according to USA Today. The Thanksgiving holiday travel chaos also impacted millions of American travelers.