Heavy snows ground New York flights

Travelers in the US who were trying to head off for the holidays a bit early found heavy snows in the northeast of the country slowing their progress, as hundreds of flights were delayed or cancelled at New York City area airports.

At Newark Liberty Airport, 430 flights were canceled on Friday afternoon, according to spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Steve Coleman. Flights that were able to depart left an hour late on average, and arrivals were delayed by as long as five hours.

Flight cancellations at the three major New York airports, Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark reached one-thirds of all scheduled services, Coleman noted. On an average day, 3,500 flights are handled by the three airports, including 1,400 at Newark.

Across the state of New Jersey, driving conditions were somewhat better, as lighter volume, heavy salting and warmer road temperatures kept traffic moving.

“You can see blacktop” on both main toll roads, the Garden State Parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike, said Turnpike Authority spokesman, Joe Orlando. “Schools closed yesterday and that’s keeping everybody off the road.”

As the temperatures dropped by the evening commute, travel was expected to be more dangerous in northern New Jersey, with snow changing over to freezing rain.

Thanks to www.philly.com for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

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