Thursday flight cancellations top 1,400 nationwide, disrupting holiday travel - CNN

CNN  — 

More than 1,400 flights person been cancelled crossed the United States, according to the formation tracking site FlightAware, arsenic terrible wintertime upwind threatens vacation travel.

As of Thursday morning, 1,486 flights person been cancelled nationwide. More than 700 US flights person already been canceled for Friday.

Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport leads the way, followed by Denver International and Chicago’s Midway International. Cancellations astatine those airports could person a wider impact, since they are engaged hubs wherever travelers often alteration planes successful bid to scope different destinations. Thursday is expected to beryllium the busiest pre-Christmas time for travel.

Weather forecasters are predicting a “bomb cyclone,” and the National Weather Service says much than 100 cardinal radical are nether wintertime alerts and upwind chill alerts — that’s astir one-third of the US population.

Temperatures successful Denver are predicted to plummet to 10 degrees beneath zero by daybreak Thursday. Chicago could spot adjacent blizzard conditions with snowfall opening midday Thursday and continuing into Friday morning.

Maria Ihekwaba, who was traveling from Chicago to Clear Lake, Iowa with her granddaughter connected Thursday morning, told CNN she was trying to depart arsenic soon arsenic possible.

“Especially erstwhile you’re traveling from Chicago, you ne'er cognize what could hap successful Chicago due to the fact that it’s the windy city,” Ihekwaba said.

Traveler Kari Lucas, from San Diego, told CNN she was visiting her sister and brother-in-law, but chopped the travel abbreviated arsenic she didn’t privation to get caught successful the impending weather.

“I was disquieted due to the fact that San Diego, we don’t get these snowstorms,” she said. “So I don’t similar it to beryllium trapped successful the airdrome for agelong periods of time.”

“It seemed similar the champion prime to marque close now,” she said.

Many airlines person issued upwind waivers, and travelers should cheque that their flights are inactive scheduled for takeoff earlier departing for the airport. Experts are informing flyers to get aboriginal astatine the airdrome successful bid to bushed the crowds.

- CNN’s Dave Hennen contributed to this report.