A major winter storm has caused flight cancellations and delays to and from Sky Harbor International Airport and many other airports this week.
Sky Harbor's website showed more than 150 flights were canceled for Wednesday and Thursday, as of early Thursday morning. Nearly 20 additional flights had been delayed.
The blast of frigid weather, which began arriving Tuesday night, put a long stretch of states from New Mexico and Colorado to Maine under winter storm warnings and watches. Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan saw freezing rain, sleet and snow on Wednesday morning. The heaviest snow is expected in Missouri, Indiana and Illinois, while significant ice accumulation is expected in an area from Louisville, Kentucky, to Memphis, Tennessee.
As the Weather Channel noted, Texas is paying particular attention to this year's winter weather after a powerful icy storm last year caused unprecedented power outages in that state and more than 240 deaths were considered related to the powerful winter weather there in early 2021.
The Denver metro area saw 8 to 12 inches by Wednesday afternoon and one part of Illinois saw more than 14 inches of snow, CNN reported.
Sharon Skaar and her friend's flight landed late in Phoenix from Salt Lake City Thursday.
"Well, we were delayed an hour. It was really cold there, so other than that, things seemed to be going pretty well," Skaar said.
Other passengers reported turbulence, and views of a lot of snow-covered areas from their seats. Jay Walker flew for the first time and was hoping to see more than just snow.
"I did not really get to see much other than it being white outside. The plane was shaking a lot. I got to see the wing going up and down,” Walker recalled from his flight.
Other passengers stressed the importance of patience and understanding in situations that are uncontrollable, like this weather.
