A massive winter system has ripped across the United States, grinding air travel to a halt and wiping more than 10,800 flights off the schedule in a single day. The storm, identified as Winter Storm Fern, has combined blizzard conditions, ice and brutal winds to create one of the most disruptive aviation events since the Covid era. As airports from the Southern Plains to the Northeast dig out, the scale of the cancellations is reshaping travel plans, straining airlines and testing the resilience of critical infrastructure.
The same weather pattern has also plunged neighborhoods into darkness, closed highways and shuttered schools, turning what began as a rough winter weekend into a national test of preparedness. With President Donald Trump calling the system “historic” and utilities racing to restore service to hundreds of thousands of homes, the storm’s impact is stretching far beyond stranded passengers and delayed departures.
The scale of a near record aviation shutdown
By the peak of the storm, more than 10,800 flights had been canceled on Sunday alone, a figure that pushed total disruptions into territory not seen since the first months of the pandemic. Flight tracking data shows that More than 10,800 flights were scrubbed that Sunday, amounting to roughly 30 percent of all U.S. departures and arrivals. Separate tallies describe how More than 10,800 flights were canceled on Sunday as whiteout conditions swept into the Northeast, underscoring how quickly the storm overwhelmed airport operations.
Those single day numbers sit inside an even larger wave of disruption that began as Winter Storm Fern first gathered strength. Since Saturday, More than 14,100 flights have been canceled across the country, with cancellations cascading from early morning departures into late night connections. One live tally put the total even higher, reporting More than 11,000 flights canceled within, into or out of the United States as the system moved east and even forcing a complete shutdown at DCA in the Washington region.
Winter Storm Fern’s path from the Plains to the Northeast
The aviation chaos is rooted in the sheer geographic reach of Winter Storm Fern, which has swept from the Southern Plains into the Mid Atlantic and Northeast in a matter of days. Earlier in the weekend, a plow truck was photographed clearing snow on I‑40 during Winter Storm Fern in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, a reminder that the system’s footprint stretches far beyond the big coastal hubs. As the storm intensified, forecasters warned that heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain would march east, with conditions deteriorating from the Ohio Valley into the I‑95 corridor.
By the time the core of the storm reached the Northeast, major cities were reporting some of their heaviest snow in years, with visibility dropping to near zero and runways turning into sheets of ice. Coverage from the region described how Aviation analytics firm Cirium tracked the wave of cancellations as the storm’s snow bands stalled over key hubs. Local outlets in New York state noted that Thousands of flights were canceled as the storm moved east, with winter storm warnings stretching from upstate communities to the New York City metro area.
Power outages and a broader infrastructure test
While stranded travelers have become the most visible symbol of Winter Storm Fern, the storm’s damage to the power grid is at least as severe. Earlier in the weekend, utilities reported More than 112,000 outages across the country on Saturday morning, including about 55,000 in Texas and 13,700 in Louisiana, as ice and heavy, wet snow pulled down lines and toppled trees. As the system shifted east, those numbers ballooned, with one national update describing how Power outages surged across multiple states and left around 1 million customers in the dark.
In the eastern United States, the storm has been particularly punishing, with reports that Winter Storm Fern is pummeling the region and leaving more than 1M without electricity as it rages across the country. One account noted that Winter Storm Fern is canceling near record flights while simultaneously knocking out service to neighborhoods from the Deep South to New England. Another live blog described how Today will go down in history for the combination of more than 10,000 flights canceled and the prospect of up to 15,000 cancellations possible through Monday, all while families contend with dark homes and closed schools.
How airlines and airports tried to stay ahead
Airlines did not wait for the first flakes to hit the tarmac before acting. As forecasts for Winter Storm Fern sharpened, carriers began issuing travel waivers, repositioning crews and preemptively cutting schedules to avoid passengers and planes being stranded in the wrong cities. One major carrier, Delta, said its teams were monitoring Winter Storm Fern and encouraged customers traveling over the weekend to adjust plans, highlighting how airlines now lean on early communication to blunt the worst of the disruption.
As conditions deteriorated, those contingency plans shifted into full scale operations mode. A later Winter Storm Fern from the same airline described teams monitoring conditions and resuming operations as weather permitted, while warning that lingering snow and ice could still impact flights Monday morning. At the same time, airport managers from Oklahoma City to the Northeast were coordinating with local authorities, as illustrated by images of plows working I‑40 during Winter Storm Fern and crews racing to keep taxiways open even as visibility dropped.
Passengers caught in the middle of a “historic” storm
For travelers, the statistics translate into missed weddings, lost workdays and nights spent on terminal floors. One traveler described how he had planned to fly home Sunday but is now staying until Wednesday after Delta suggested he change his reservation because of the weather impact on flights, a small window into the cascading personal decisions triggered by the storm. Live coverage from across the country has repeatedly emphasized that More than 10,000 flights have been canceled as the storm slams airports, leaving Thousands of passengers scrambling for alternatives.
The federal response has framed the event as a national scale emergency rather than a routine winter hiccup. In one set of live updates, President Donald Trump was quoted describing the storm as “historic,” a label that aligns with the data showing Nearly 9,000 departures canceled on Sunday, more than on any other day since the early Covid lockdowns. That figure, drawn from aviation data that recorded Nearly 9,000 departures canceled on Sunday, underscores why officials are urging patience and warning that recovery will take days, not hours.
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