Severe weather Thursday morning forced San Francisco International Airport to cancel dozens of flights and delay more than 100, as an atmospheric river brought heavy rain and damaging winds.
The Federal Aviation Administration placed SFO under a ground delay program beginning at 7 a.m. PST due to weather conditions, according to airport officials. The delays were to remain in effect through 11:59 p.m. Thursday.
A total of 46 flights were canceled, representing 4% of airport operations, according to SFO spokesperson Doug Yakel, and 113 delays, accounting for 10% of scheduled flights. FlightAware.com (opens in new tab) later listed 186 delays, just over 16% of scheduled flights.
By comparison, shortly before 8 a.m. Wednesday, SFO had logged 46 cancellations, or about 4% of all flights, and 26 flight delays, or about 2% of all flights, with delays averaging around 25 minutes.
Today’s average delay was 102 minutes. Earlier this morning, delays were estimated at 20 minutes, mainly for short-haul West Coast flights, Yakel said.
According to an FAA advisory issued Thursday, the maximum delay reached 188 minutes. The delays applied to flights arriving from across the continental United States, as well as select Canadian airports, including Edmonton, Montreal and Calgary.
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Strong winds forced airport officials Wednesday to alter runway configurations. The alternative configuration is less efficient and contributed to the cascading delays and cancellations.
The National Weather Service issued a high wind warning for the North Bay coast, the Marin hills, San Francisco, and San Mateo coast through 10 a.m. Thursday, warning of 20 mph to 30 mph winds, with gusts up to 60 mph. Areas of the East Bay and towns south of San Francisco were expected to be affected through 4 p.m. Thursday.
“We recommend travelers contact their airline directly for the status of their flight,” Yakel said Wednesday afternoon.