Fallen snowman
Photograph ©2010 by Brian Cohen.
Brian Cohen·
AirlinesNews and Weather
··6 min read

Travel Alert January 2022: More Airline Waivers and States of Emergency Issued Due to Massive Winter Storm

Travel waivers for 68 airports were issued by one airline alone.

If the eastern half of the United States and southeastern Canada are in your travel plans over the next few days or so, you may want to consider delaying your travel — or, at least, keep yourself updated as to the latest information pertaining to the weather — due to a massive winter weather system which is bringing snow, ice, sleet, freezing rain, torrential rain, thunderstorms, gusty winds, and frigid air to the regions and affect greater than 110 million people and at least 100 airports in 33 states and eight provinces.

Travel Alert January 2022: More Airline Waivers and States of Emergency Issued Due to Massive Winter Storm

Although up to 40 inches of snow is expected to fall in some local areas due to lake effect snow or higher elevations, snow is forecast through Tuesday, January 18, 2022 for the following areas, where as much as:

  • 24 inches of snow could fall from extreme northwestern Pennsylvania to extreme southeastern Québec, which includes the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, and Jamestown
  • 18 inches of snow could fall from portions of extreme northeastern Georgia all the way to western Maine and southeastern Québec for cities such as Roanoke, Erie, Québec, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse
  • One foot of snow could fall from central North Dakota and the southwestern tip of North Carolina all the way to eastern Québec and the northwestern tip of New Brunswick for cities such as Montréal, Des Moines, Harrisburg, Burlington, Charleston, Fargo, and Albany
  • Six inches of snow could fall from eastern Saskatchewan, extreme northeastern Georgia, and northern Tennessee all the way to eastern Québec and much of New Brunswick, which includes cities such as Baltimore, Saint Louis, Saint Paul, Knoxville, Manchester, Cincinnati, Worcester, Kansas City, Nashville, Asheville, Omaha, Portland, Minneapolis, and the District of Columbia
  • Three inches of snow could fall from extreme northeastern Arkansas all the way to Newfoundland, which includes cities such as New York, Charlotte, Wilmington, Atlanta, Boston, Little Rock, Philadelphia, Richmond, Providence, Toronto, and Hartford can possibly experience being covered with up to three inches of snow.

Additionally, an ice storm is possible from Atlanta to southern central Pennsylvania, with significant ice possible in cities such as Greenville, Durham, Charlotte, Raleigh, and Spartanburg. Ice is typically caused by freezing rain, when rain falls and freezes after it reaches the ground. Black ice — which appears invisible to motorists and poses a threat — on roadways is especially a concern at night.

Expect highways and roadways to be difficult to navigate — if not impassible — in many of the affected areas. Motorists are advised not to drive unless it is absolutely necessary to do so.

Electrical power outages are almost certain to occur in many areas; and significant damage to both public property and private property may occur in some areas.

States of emergency were officially declared in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia in advance of this massive winter weather system, which has prompted winter storm warnings from the National Weather Service to remain in effect for multiple states into Monday, January 17, 2022.

Thunderstorms and rain will be prevalent in the southeastern United States and include such cities as Pensacola, Mobile, Tallahassee, Tampa, Savannah, Miami, Charleston, Orlando, and Jacksonville.

Peak wind gusts of up to 70 miles per hour are expected in the southern half of Nova Scotia; up to 60 miles per hour along much of the Atlantic coasts of Canada and the United States; and up to 50 miles per hour from extreme northeastern Florida all the way to Prince Edward Island and as far west as eastern Tennessee.

Shelves in many supermarkets in the greater Atlanta metropolitan area were reportedly already bare in anticipation of the winter storm, as people remember when a winter storm paralyzed the region back on Wednesday, January 29, 2014 — and people whose trips would normally 20 minutes consumed greater than eight hours to complete on that day.

Hundreds of flights have already been canceled in anticipation of this winter weather system, as the unusually cold winter weather is only adding to the tens of thousands of cancellations and delays of flights which have been plaguing airlines in the United States since Christmas Eve on Friday, December 24, 2021.

Flight Waivers, Delays and Cancellations

If you are traveling to or from the eastern half of the United States and southeastern Canada over the next few days or so, expect delays and cancellations of flights. Keep up to date on the latest information pertaining to this winter weather system which may adversely affect your travel plans. Better yet, postponing or canceling your trip might be a better option — no matter which mode of travel you plan on taking.

See also

If you have a flight scheduled, your flight may be delayed or canceled — and you may be eligible for a waiver of a fee to change your itinerary.

Here are nine airlines which have issued travel alerts as a result of this weather system:

Final Boarding Call

Expect the cancellations or delays of flights to continue in general until further notice.

Be sure to contact your airline or transportation provider for the latest information pertaining to your travels — if they are adversely affected — and please: travel safely.

Photograph ©2010 by Brian Cohen.

Copyright © 2006-2022 The Gate with Brian Cohen. All Rights Reserved.

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