What Kind of Winter Weather causes departure delays?

[DisneyLily]

Hello,

I'm sitting here trying not to worry about my flight coming up.

Anyway, does anybody know what kind of winter weather causes departure delays? (I.E. how bad does it have to be? Like a winter snow "event") Is it the amount of snow, how quickly it falls, the temperature, freezing rain?

Thanks!!

 

[drag n' fly]

We have a connection in Chicago there and back and I am worried about it too. If there is too much fog, they shut it down, if there is too much snow (if the city comes to a standstill that is enought to delay things considerably) flights are delayed until they can clear the runways. Cold is irrelevant as they have de-icer and it is way colder up in the air.

Cross that bridge when you get to it and be prepared with a plan just in case eg: extra funds if you are stranded etc!

 

[dvcdisney]

This past March, our flight was delayed for almost 6 hours due to freezing rain. They had de-iced the plane about 4 times before we finally took off. I believe a significant snow storm would also cause a delay.

 

[MinnieMommy]

Freezing rain in the winter months has caused us travel delays. Fog has delayed us as well. Makes you enjoy the Florida sunshine all the more!

I agree with pp, just plan ahead in case you are delayed by budgeting for extra hotel night, shuttle, meals etc.. Also, make sure you have all your necessary confirmation #s (and contact #s) with you in case you are delayed on the way down to call and let them know you are delayed due to weather.

 

[Tarabelle83]

I am kind of nervous about flight delays too. I'm flying out of Buffalo last week of December and they have notorious bad weather out there. A few years back my dad became stuck on the eastern US coast during a business trip because Buffalo was having such a bad storm that it shut down for several days and I think the city was without power for a week. This sucked because we were scheduled fly out of Toronto to go to a wedding out west (he was supposed to arrive in Buffalo the night before our flight left). We ended up leaving without him and he had to airport hop in order to make it to the wedding on time. And this happened over the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend! It was only the beginning of October!

So now I'm nervous. It's my Disney honeymoon so I don't want to miss a day and we're already going to be checking into our Florida hotel at midnight. Also, we booked through expedia and I'm not sure how that works when a flight is delayed to the point of missing our connecting flight. I've heard horror stories that airlines don't care about expedia clients.

I'm just hoping that since Buffalo is used to such terrible weather that it will take alot more for them to shut down.

 

[grantclaire]

We were delayed 2 hrs last March break flying out of TO due to a snowstorm. There was alot of cancelled flights as well. Sometimes it matters where your plane is coming from. Connecting flights can be a problem as well if a airport is closed. One plus when we got to Orlando it seem empty due to all the cancelled flight. Always have a plan for delays. Good luck!

 

[dis_guy]

Basically it comes down to three things:

Runway condition is important(especially for braking) but it has to be pretty bad to stop flights.

Plane condition, such as freezing rain and frost on the aerodynamic surfaces.

Visibility for the pilots to legally take off and land.

One time I sat in Toronto for 3 hours because the tugs were getting stuck in the snow and we had to keep checking the wings for snow and ice buildup. Finally we de-iced and got away just as the airport was closing.

In winter, it could be anything.

 

[Jackie Psarianos]

Hello,

I'm sitting here trying not to worry about my flight coming up.

Anyway, does anybody know what kind of winter weather causes departure delays? (I.E. how bad does it have to be? Like a winter snow "event") Is it the amount of snow, how quickly it falls, the temperature, freezing rain?

Thanks!!

My husband is an air traffic controller and he said, " anytime there is an accumulation on the aircraft, of snow or freezing rain, aircraft must de-ice, coupled with bad run way conditions, which require runways to be shut down for cleaning and then coupled with the volume of aircraft at that time, will all work together to cause delays."
This is true not only if these conditions present at your departure airport but they may also exist at your destination airport.

 

[Jackie Psarianos]

Hello,

I'm sitting here trying not to worry about my flight coming up.

Anyway, does anybody know what kind of winter weather causes departure delays? (I.E. how bad does it have to be? Like a winter snow "event") Is it the amount of snow, how quickly it falls, the temperature, freezing rain?

Thanks!!

My husband is an air traffic controller and he said, " anytime there is an accumulation on the aircraft, of snow or freezing rain, aircraft must de-ice, coupled with bad run way conditions, which require runways to be shut down for cleaning and then coupled with the volume of aircraft at that time, will all work together to cause delays."
This is true not only if these conditions are present at your departure airport but they may also exist at your destination airport.

 

[minnie56]

Pretty much most kinds of Winter weather conditions can cause delay issues but ice on the wings is the biggest issue along with Visual and tarmac conditions.
It doesn't always end there tho!

Last Feb we flew from Buffalo..came back to a car that we couldn't get into! The doors and windows were iced shut!
Thankfully--we have auto start...so we turned it on and waited and it was BITTER! Took about 15 minutes to get the doors open then we sat for another 10 minutes before moving..then the wipers snapped off! FUN! NOT!
The joys of winter travel are numerous..

 

[DisneyLily]

I was getting really worried because yesterday they were calling for a rain and snow event for the day that we are leaving. But now they say that it is going to be ok. I tell ya, this weather is getting me paranoid!

 

[brytorlyn]

Pretty much most kinds of Winter weather conditions can cause delay issues but ice on the wings is the biggest issue along with Visual and tarmac conditions.
It doesn't always end there tho!

Last Feb we flew from Buffalo..came back to a car that we couldn't get into! The doors and windows were iced shut!
Thankfully--we have auto start...so we turned it on and waited and it was BITTER! Took about 15 minutes to get the doors open then we sat for another 10 minutes before moving..then the wipers snapped off! FUN! NOT!
The joys of winter travel are numerous..

Last February we flew in from Orlando on the night of the BIG storm. When we left Orlando they told us Buffalo airport was closed but it was going to be open by the time we got there. An hour into the flight they said it wasn't open yet but it would be when we got there. When we got there, the airport opened, we landed, and the airport closed!!

Did I mention that the "Fasten Seat Belt" sign was on for the whole flight? And that the whole plane applauded the pilot for landing the plane.

When DH got to the car it was covered in snow and ICE and all he had to clear the windows was a cake fork that had fallen out of a kids backpack onto the car floor. It took us over 2 hours to get home and we live about an hour from the airport.

 

[DisneyLily]

Oh my!!! I just hope the weather is good for Wednesday. I'll be a wreck until then.