On Wednesday, what many have called "the biggest snowstorm of the season" impacted the US state of Michigan and its largest international airport in Detroit.
During the snowstorm, news channel FOX 2 was on the scene at DTW airport, asking travelers about their experience flying during the snowstorm.
One traveler, Melinda Rakhar from California, was on her way to Toronto (which was under a winter storm watch), when her flight was delayed and then canceled due to the cruddy winter weather.
Rather than waiting until the following day to maybe catch a flight to Toronto if the weather got better, Rakhar made the decision to rent a car and hit the road with another passenger bound for Toronto, Sabrina Smith, preferring to brave the winter storm as opposed to waiting in the airport.
Another traveler interviewed by FOX 2, Asia Whaley, found herself stuck in Detroit after getting off a flight from Houston.
She said that she was flying Delta Air Lines and that she expected her flight to once again be delayed on Thursday as she headed to New York City.
"...My grandma told me y'all are expecting a bunch of snow. So I’m not really sure. At the moment Delta didn’t tell me anything about why delays at the moment but I’m pretty sure it’s going to come..."
When another round of snow impacted the Detroit area through the night of Saturday Feburary 15th, ground crews at DTW were determined to help flights avoid delays by clearing the tarmac as soon as possible.
This strategy appeared to have worked, as on the afternoon of Sunday February 16th, the average delay for flights departing the Michigan airport was just 45 minutes despite an additional three to six inches of powder caking the region after another storm on Sunday.
As a result of some pretty lengthy delays, the Wayne County Airport Authority urged passengers to check their flight statuses on the official DTW website before arriving at the airport.
February has been quite the wintry month for the Northern United States. Nearly every state across the country has experienced wild winter storms, ranging from tornadoes and high winds in Southern states such as Florida, to ice and snow storms in Washington DC and New York City .
This has led to snowfall in cities such as Chicago, Detroit, and New York topping averages seen in previous years.
The latest round of winter storms that have impacted the Northern United States in the previous week have had the biggest effect on cities in the Great Lakes and Northern New York State, as states to the South of the primary parts of these storms such as New Jersey, Maryland, and Southern New York State have seen most precipitation from the storms mostly turn to rain and freezing rain.
The La Niña Southern Oscillation, which is a weather phenomenon that heavily affects both summer and winter weather throughout North America, has been in full swing since late 2024.
Triggered by cooler water surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, La Niña is usually responsible for stronger tradewinds, a shift in the jetstream, and usually results in less snow being seen across parts of the United States, but this year has proven to be an exception from the norm.
