East Coast weather could impact local travel

On Friday at the Colorado Springs Airport, Colorado Springs resident Ed Flanagan hopes to get to Santa Ana, California. Although his plans don’t involve going to the East Coast, he’s well aware of what’s happening there.

“I understand there’s quite a big storm going on,” he said.

He does have a connection in Denver though, where more than 60 flights are already cancelled or delayed.

And so far, this weekend’s storm appears to be living up to the hype. Brian Van De Graaf, with ABC affiliate WJLA 7 Washington, D.C., says it’s only going to get worse.

“The totals were even higher when the late numbers came out last night, and then earlier this morning,” he said. “The numbers are going from historical to astronomical.”

According to the website flightaware.com, there have already been 5,000 delays and 3,000 cancellations nationwide. It is possible hard-hit metro areas, like Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, could see all flight operations halted for days, if the heavy snow conditions arrive as predicted.

It’s forcing travelers to make other plans.

Jon Pidwerbecki just flew in from Pittsburgh. His reasons were simple: “To get out of the snow, because they said it was going to be 6 to 12 inches, maybe up to 24 inches in spots”.

So far, travelers in the Springs seem to be taking it in stride.

As always, it’s best to check with your carrier before heading to the airport.

You can find a link to the airport travel board by clicking here.