Piling on top of the hundreds of flights already grounded in the Midwest, more than 800 flights have been canceled in Chicago Sunday during one of the busiest travel seasons of the year as severe weather threatens to move in the area.
So far, O'Hare has seen over 700 flights canceled, with 710 having been cut so far Sunday. The average flight delay is still around 15 minutes, but air traffic has already been snarled due to conditions that will continue to deteriorate through the rest of the evening.
A total of 124 flights have been canceled at Midway.
With much of the central Plains and Great Lakes region under blizzard or winter storm warnings, around 1,200 flights headed to or from the U.S. had been canceled as of 6 p.m. Sunday, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware.
Most were supposed to be routed through Chicago or Kansas City — areas forecast to be hit hard by the storm.
In eastern Nebraska, part of Interstate 80 between Lincoln and Omaha was closed Sunday morning because of multiple accidents after snow blanketed that area. That included semitrailer trucks jackknifed across the highway. It was re-opened by Sunday afternoon.
Strong winds and snow created blizzard conditions across much of Nebraska and parts of Kansas, Iowa and Missouri. The National Weather Service was warning those conditions would make travel difficult in places.
Travelers were being urged to check their flight's status with their airline.
Ahead of potentially heavy snow on Sunday, a Blizzard Warning will be issued to replace the Winter Storm Warning in place for several counties across Illinois, starting at 6 p.m. Sunday until 6 a.m. Monday, impacting travel plans for those returning from their Thanksgiving holiday.
Sunday in Chicago is expected to be cold and windy with temperature highs in the upper 30s and lows in the mid-20s.
