Winter storms affecting post-Thanksgiving air travel across the U.S.

Winter storms impacting post-Thanksgiving travel

Airports are expected to remain busy, as many Americans try to get back home after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and this comes as winter storms in the Midwest is affecting air traffic. FOX 10'sa Irene Snyder has more.

PHOENIX - Thanksgiving may have come and gone, but the holiday travel season is far from over, with airports expected to remain busy on Monday as thousands of Americans try to get back home after the long holiday weekend.

Big picture view:

Airports like Sky Harbor in Phoenix stayed packed through the weekend, while across the country, winter storms in cities like Chicago, Milwaukee, Des Moines, and Grand Rapids have made travel even more chaotic, with thousands of flights delayed or canceled.

Chicago's O'Hare Airport has been hit the hardest. They saw nearly nine inches of snow blanketing parts of the city, while high winds made both air and road travel challenging. According to FlightAware, more than 4,000 flights were delayed Sunday afternoon, and over 2,000 flights were canceled on Saturday.

"Honestly, what's making this kind of seem more unusual for a lot of people is the last couple of winters, we've kind of been more on the mild side. December's been fairly dormant," said Zachary Yack, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Chicago.

Local perspective:

While only two flights were canceled at Phoenix Sky Harbor, there were only 100 reported delays.

What you can do:

Travelers should always double-check their flight status with their airline company.