East Coast storm snarling travel; some Seattle flights canceled, delayed

Even if your flight gets to the East Coast, it could be miserable on the ground: Virginia was being pounded Wednesday by snow, with roads, like this one in Staunton, in rough shape. (Associated Press photo)

If you’re flying to or from the East Coast on Wednesday and Thursday, doublecheck your flights (through your airline or Sea-Tac Airport’s real-time flight info) and be ready for delays or cancellations. The snowstorm that swept into Washington, D.C., on Wednesday (after snarling Chicago air travel Tuesday) already has forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights by mid-morning.

Some United Airlines flights to Seattle from Washington Reagan airport, due to arrive late Wednesday morning and in the afternoon, have been canceled, and some Alaska Airlines flights from the East Coast were hours late. Flights are backed up at New York area airports and Philadelphia, with delays there of more than three hours.

Delays can boomerang to other destinations in the U.S. air travel system since planes and crews are out of position; check airport delays nationwide at FlightAware.

And if you have any business with the federal government in D.C. , don’t bother; federal offices there are closed Wednesday because of the storm.

Comments | More in airlines, Sea-Tac Airport | Topics: E

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Kristin Jackson, travel editor at The Seattle Times, grew up in Italy, went to university in Britain, and worked as a journalist in London and Vancouver, B.C., before migrating back to Seattle where she’s happy at her desk but way happier on the road.

Brian J. Cantwell, Outdoors editor at The Seattle Times, is a Seattle native who chose not to leave -- except for every chance he gets to go someplace interesting or adventurous. He lives on his sailboat at Shilshole Bay Marina.