Severe storms delay Newark flights

Severe thunderstorms that moved across the Northeast on Tuesday disrupted flights at Newark Liberty International Airport, slowed traffic at other major hubs and knocked out power for thousands of customers in New Jersey. Federal Aviation Administration status pages showed Newark under a traffic management program because of thunderstorms, with arriving flights delayed by an average of 2 hours and 27 minutes during the event. New Jersey outage trackers and local reporting showed the storms also damaged the power grid, with service restoration continuing into Wednesday. The disruption stretched beyond one airport. FAA’s daily air traffic report for Wednesday said low clouds were forecast in Boston and the New York area, including JFK, LaGuardia and Newark, while thunderstorm delays were also possible elsewhere in the country. Flight tracking services showed Newark as one of several airports facing weather-related operational strain during the period. ### How bad were the Newark delays? FAA airport-status data for Newark said thunderstorms prompted a traffic management program for arriving aircraft and pushed average arrival delays to 2 hours and 27 minutes at one point. (fly.faa.gov) The FAA’s airport page for Newark on Wednesday continued to list thunderstorms as a factor affecting operations, with the airport status page showing the weather-related program remained in effect into the afternoon. (faa.gov) Flight-specific impacts varied by airline and route. The FAA and FlightAware both tell travelers that airport-status pages describe general conditions, not the status of an individual flight, and advise passengers to check directly with their airline. ### Why did storms at Newark ripple across other airports? Newark is one of the main airports in the New York metropolitan airspace, where weather can affect tightly scheduled arrival flows across multiple airports. (fly.faa.gov) FAA’s National Airspace System dashboard on Wednesday listed possible evening ground stop or delay programs not only for Newark but also for JFK, LaGuardia, Philadelphia and Teterboro, showing how weather planning in the region is handled as a network issue rather than a single-airport problem. (fly.faa.gov) The FAA’s Wednesday traffic report also grouped Boston with the New York airports under low-cloud concerns, while separate thunderstorm risks were listed for Philadelphia. That combination helps explain why delays can spread between Northeast hubs even after the most intense storms move through one location. ### What happened on the ground in New Jersey? New Jersey utilities and outage trackers showed the storms also cut electricity service. (nasstatus.faa.gov) NJ.com’s outage tracker, which compiles data from the state’s major utilities, showed 3,948 customers without power at 10:47 a.m. Wednesday, after local reporting said the number had fallen sharply from a much higher peak overnight. PSE&G told customers it was prepared to respond to outages caused by the storms and directed them to report service interruptions online, through its app or by text. (faa.gov) National Weather Service products issued Tuesday evening documented strong thunderstorms in the New York City area, including a 7:30 p.m. special weather statement for Richmond County on Staten Island. The weather service said Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near Tottenville moving across the area. ### What should travelers watch next? Wednesday FAA advisories said delays were still possible at Newark, JFK and Boston because of low clouds, even after Tuesday’s thunderstorm line had passed. (projects.nj.com) The FAA’s operations plan also showed possible ground-stop or delay programs later Wednesday for Newark and nearby airports if conditions worsened again. Airlines and the FAA update airport conditions throughout the day, and Newark’s airport-status page remained active on Wednesday afternoon. (forecast.weather.gov) Travelers with flights through EWR, JFK or BOS can track the next round of advisories on FAA airport-status pages and confirm any schedule changes with their airline. (faa.gov 1) (faa.gov 2)