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.
Among the carriers hardest hit were American Airlines, with more than 1,000 flights delayed, or 30 percent of its daily routes, and Southwest Airlines, which delayed more than 990 flights, or 27 percent of its daily schedule, according to FlightAware. Southwest also canceled more than 500 flights.
Southwest, Delta Air Lines and other airlines issued travel waivers allowing customers to rebook their travel with no change fees through more than a dozen cities hit by winter weather.
The advisory didn’t help Nick Grimaldi, who was scheduled to fly from Jamaica to his home in Virginia Beach, Va., on Monday with his family after a holiday trip. Their 2 p.m. flight departing from Montego Bay and bound for Baltimore-Washington International Airport was repeatedly delayed, and ultimately canceled. Their connecting flight to Norfolk, Va., where their car is parked, was canceled. His children will miss at least another day of school. Mr. Grimaldi said that he was frustrated that Southwest hadn’t canceled their flight to Baltimore earlier, when flights on other airlines were still available. Now, he said, he’ll spend all night trying to arrange flights to get back home tomorrow.
“Today has been a roller coaster. We felt like it was all under control leaving the resort,” said Mr. Grimaldi, 47, in an direct message over social media. “Southwest has to work on its process and allow customers to get out of their flights once it’s not going as planned, especially when the snowstorm was always coming.”
Train service was also significantly disrupted. Citing severe winter weather and equipment issues, Amtrak canceled dozens of trains in the Northeast and Midwest. Destinations affected included Boston, Washington, New York, Chicago and Raleigh, N.C.
One air traveler in Washington wasn’t too perturbed, even after her flight plans from National Airport were rescheduled multiple times over two days. Aleena Shahan, who lives in Richmond, Va., planned to fly to Cincinnati on Delta Sunday evening for business, but her original flight, and then three more on Monday, were canceled. She’s staying with family and has been rescheduled again for another flight Tuesday morning.
”They’ve been pretty good with rebooking us,” she said of Delta.
Travel was expected to remain snarled throughout Monday evening. Washington and Baltimore could get more light snow as the storm moves on, the National Weather Service said, and parts of New England could see snow in the days to come. Another winter storm is anticipated to affect Texas later this week.
Chris Cameron contributed reporting from Washington.
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