Holiday travel affected by severe U.S. weather

Holiday travelers may find getting to their destination Thursday and the rest of the week as frightful as much of the country’s weather.

Frigid temperatures and severe storms dotted much of the country’s northern region, and airlines were bearing the brunt. At 8:15  a.m., Thursday, 1,508 flights within, into or out of the United States had been cancelled and 1,983 were delayed, according to Flight Aware. It was possible those numbers could rise, according to the airlines.

San Francisco Airport spokesman Dennis Zamaria said 16 flights were cancelled Thursday at that airport, though not all because of the weather. Officials at Mineta San Jose Airport were not available to comment. That airport’s flight board listed 10 cancellations.

Oakland Airport spokeswoman Kaley Skantz said they were not releasing delay or cancellation numbers at the request of individual airlines.

“While it is unlikely that we will have severe weather impacts to airport operations here on the ground at OAK [sic], there is a chance that our airline partners that operate at OAK may have delays and cancellations due to the severe weather in other parts of the country,” Skantz said in emailed statement. “Our absolute best advice for passengers at this time is to download their airline’s mobile application on their smartphone and enable notifications. This is the best way to ensure that passengers receive the most up-to-date information about their travel itenerary.”

The airport’s flight log on its web site listed 26 delays but no cancellations.