After heavy snowfall in the Great Lakes region of the U.S., hundreds of flights were canceled and delayed at Chicago Airport, LETA reports citing AP.
On Saturday, 21.34 centimeters of snow fell at Chicago's O'Hare Airport — the largest amount of snow recorded in a single day in November in history. The previous record was 20.32 centimeters, set on November 6, 1951.
On Sunday, about 300 flights were canceled at the airport, and around 1,600 flights were delayed, according to data from the flight tracking portal FlightAware.
Even after snow removal, the roads to the airport remained congested due to slow-moving traffic, while passengers whose flights were affected by the snowfall were piling up at the airport.
U.S. airports are particularly busy these days, as Thursday marked Thanksgiving — a traditional time for traveling to see relatives and returning home.
De-icing of aircraft was conducted on Sunday at several U.S. airports, including Washington and Minneapolis, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Since Saturday, about 30 centimeters of snow have fallen in the Lake Michigan area. In western Michigan, hundreds of churches recommended that congregants refrain from attending services for safety reasons.
In Wisconsin, thousands of households were left without electricity after the snowfall, and operations at Des Moines Airport (Iowa) were temporarily halted after a Delta Connection plane slid off an icy runway. No injuries were reported in the incident.
At Detroit Airport, over 400 flights were delayed on Sunday evening, with more than 45 canceled, according to FlightAware.
In other areas of Iowa, strong gusts of wind were blowing snow back onto cleared roads, creating particularly dangerous conditions on highways.
In Fort Dodge (Iowa), 40 centimeters of snow fell, the National Weather Service reported.
