Scattered Storms, Fog Force Hundreds Of Flight Cancellations
Updated 06/19/14 - 10:48 a.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Thousands of travelers were left stranded at O'Hare International Airport on Wednesday night, after thunderstorms prompted airlines to cancel nearly 600 flights. Even more flights were canceled Thursday morning due to cloudy and foggy conditions.
By 10:30 a.m Thursday, more than 250 flights had been canceled for the day at O'Hare, due to low visibility in the area. That comes a day after airlines canceled more than 580 flights due to the scattered thunderstorms. At Midway International Airport, no significant cancellations were reported Wednesday or Thursday, although a few flights were being delayed up to 45 minutes on Thursday due to low visibility.
CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports all those canceled flights at O'Hare on Wednesday meant plenty of groggy travelers who were forced to spend the night at O'Hare.
"I did try to get a hotel," said Yazmin Woods. "Expedia.com and Hotels.com had a problem over-booking hotels last night, so lots of people actually left the airport to try to get an overnight stay somewhere, only to find out they were over-booked by 100 rooms."
Woods said there were no available hotel rooms in the area, so she had no choice but to spend the night at O'Hare.
It might be a long waiting game on Thursday, with more storms possible in the area. If you're flying out of Chicago, you should expect delays, and check with your airline.
Thursday morning, a stationary storm cell was lingering in the far western suburbs, dropping steady rain out west of the Chicago area, while closer to the city, it was simply cloudy, with fog along the lakefront. However, more rain activity was possible throughout the day, with storms likely overnight.
In fact, rain is a possibility for the next several days, with the weather likely not clearing until Wednesday. Though rain isn't expected to be heavy beyond Thursday night, it's a chance each day through Tuesday.
