Snow, icy roads and frigid temperatures brought on by a storm moving through the Mid-Atlantic region on Monday disrupted a return to routine for millions of people after the two-week Christmas holiday period. In addition to closing offices and schools, the storm also interrupted travel across parts of the country with delayed and canceled trains and airplanes.
Travel conditions were particularly bad in Washington, where Ronald Reagan National Airport closed all runways Monday evening, an unwelcome development during an extraordinarily busy week for the nation’s capital. Earlier Monday, Congress certified President-elect Donald J. Trump’s victory in one of its first acts of business in the new year, and on Thursday, President Jimmy Carter’s funeral will be held at Washington National Cathedral.
The storm caused more than 9,000 flights, at airports from Texas to New York, to be delayed or canceled, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking service. Airports in the Greater Washington, D.C., metro area were most affected, with more than 80 percent of the departures at National Airport canceled. The airport said that it closed runways to allow airport crews to focus on snow removal before temperatures dropped further. Emily McGee, an airport spokeswoman, said that while terminals would remain open with limited services, the runways would likely remain closed until Tuesday morning.
At National’s baggage claim area, weary travelers stood in line to make lost luggage claims with their airlines. Others sat on their bags, on the floor and on the luggage carousel, checking their phones or making calls or trying to get a few minutes of sleep.
Philadelphia International Airport and Kennedy International Airport in New York relied on ground stops during the day to manage air traffic and prevent airports from being overwhelmed, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. More than 400 delayed departures were announced at Chicago O’Hare International Airport and the number of delayed flights crept up at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
