Severe Weather Prompts Hundreds of Flight Cancellations at O’Hare Airport

U.S.|Severe storms punctual hundreds of formation cancellations astatine O’Hare Airport.

• Aug. 9, 2021, 10:40 p.m. ET

More than 300 flights were canceled astatine O’Hare International Airport successful Chicago connected Monday aft terrible upwind prompted a crushed halt and an evacuation of the airport’s power tower.

The National Weather Service had been tracking terrible storms successful Illinois passim Monday day and into the night. Around 7:17 p.m. section time, the Weather Service said a tornado had been confirmed connected the crushed successful Arlington, Ill., astir 100 miles southwest of Chicago.

About an hr later, the Weather Service issued a terrible thunderstorm informing for areas northbound and northwest of Chicago, including O’Hare Airport. Winds up to 60 m.p.h., penny-size hail and a tornado were imaginable with storms moving successful the area, the Weather Service said.

“We are presently monitoring strengthening rotation implicit O’Hare Airport,” the Weather Service said connected Twitter, moments aft the terrible thunderstorm informing was issued

The menace of a imaginable tornado led to the evacuation of the O'Hare aerial postulation power tower, the F.A.A. said.

Those successful the operation were evacuated astatine 7:22 p.m. and returned to the operation astir 20 minutes later, portion aerial postulation controllers successful Elgin, Ill., took over, the bureau said.

Thunderstorms and a imaginable tornado prompted a crushed halt astatine the airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Gate holds and taxi delays were up to 45 minutes and increasing, and arriving flights were being delayed an mean of 2 hours and 56 minutes, according to the agency.

By 9 p.m. section time, 304 flights had been canceled astatine O’Hare connected Monday, and 26 flights were canceled astatine Midway International Airport, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. It was not instantly wide however galore of those flights were canceled due to the fact that of terrible upwind successful the area.

Severe upwind successful the Chicago country besides caused Monday night’s crippled betwixt the Chicago Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers to beryllium postponed until Tuesday. The squad asked fans who had already arrived astatine the ballpark to wide the seating vessel and question structure immediately.