New York City-area airports were facing flight delays caused by thunderstorms and rain on Saturday.
Weather conditions delayed numerous departures and arrivals at LaGuardia Airport. JFK Airport was also seeing delays, but only for departures. Newark Airport, meanwhile, has seen 306 flight cancellations within the past 24 hours, stretching back to Friday night’s thunderstorm conditions.
The New York National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Brooklyn and Queens lasting until 5 p.m., with expected 60-mph winds capable of causing flying debris and power outages. According to AccuWeather, the Big Apple could possibly see yet another bout of thunderstorms around 8 p.m.
Earlier, Staten Island was under a warning for thunderstorms, which eventually swept across the borough around 4 p.m. with wind gusts up to 40 mph and pea-sized hail.
New Yorkers are urged to exercise caution when walking, biking or driving, and to stay indoors and out of flooded basements.
On Friday, travelers flying into and out of LaGuardia, JFK and Newark airports faced grueling delays as dozens of flights were canceled amid thunderstorms.
Virtually all flights out of the three airports were either canceled or faced hours-long delays as the city’s Emergency Management Department warned of flash flooding in the city until 9 p.m.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed the delays on a combination of bad weather conditions and flight controllers calling out sick.
“For any travelers flying in and out of the Northeast — please be prepared for delays and cancellations due to controllers calling out sick on top of difficult weather patterns,” Duffy posted on X. “When roughly 40-60% of controllers call out sick at multiple facilities in the New York region, we have to delay flights to maintain the safety of the airspace.”