(NewsNation) — The threat of severe weather across states across the U.S. on Memorial Day is having a direct impact on airports, with record numbers of passengers taking to the skies this weekend.
At Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, some people are still heading to their Memorial Day destinations and not yet thinking about flights home, as thousands of flights have been delayed or canceled every day since Thursday across the country.
Most of the delays were weather-related, with tornadoes reported in Iowa, Nebraska and Texas, and hail and flash flooding in the Midwest and Northeast. About 2,000 flights were delayed or canceled between Chicago and Dallas-Fort Worth airports.
Severe weather is expected to return on Sunday, putting 39 million people at risk of powerful tornadoes, potentially damaging hail and wind gusts expected to reach 75 mph. The cities most under threat are St. Louis and Indianapolis, with flights to and from those airports likely to see the majority of delays and cancellations.
As of 11:45 a.m. ET on Sunday, there were nearly 1,300 delays and 34 cancellations to and from the U.S., according to FlightAware. The majority of those were at Dallas/Fort Worth airport, followed by Chicago's O'Hare and Atlanta. The greatest threat of delays and cancellations was in the Midwest, where storms were expected to pass through.
Most passengers said they had not anticipated or planned for how many people would be traveling this weekend, and the bad weather has added to travel chaos.
About 50,000 flights are expected to be canceled nationwide on Sunday, and if the weather remains as severe as it has been over the past few days, more than 10% of flights nationwide could be delayed or canceled.
