By: Myrtle Wilson

Air travelers across the New York City region and much of the Northeast were slammed with massive delays Sunday after a winter storm blanketed the tri-state area with snow, snarling operations at several major airports, as the NY Post reported.

LaGuardia Airport was among the hardest hit, placed under a ground stop that led to delays approaching six hours by midday Sunday, according to the NY Post. Flights bound for the Queens airport were held at their departure points, a move that quickly rippled through the national air travel system.

John F. Kennedy International Airport was also forced into a ground delay program Sunday morning, with average delays stretching just beyond three hours, the NY Post reported. Newark Liberty International Airport across the Hudson fared little better, experiencing delays of more than four hours during the height of the storm.

As the NY Post noted, a ground stop means incoming flights are prevented from taking off until conditions improve, often creating cascading delays that affect airports far beyond the storm zone.

Smaller airports were not spared. New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport was placed under a ground stop by Sunday afternoon, according to the NY Post, while airports across the Northeast corridor scrambled to de-ice aircraft before allowing departures.

Snowfall totals varied widely across the region. In New York City, much of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens saw between 1 and 4 inches of snow — the city’s first significant snowfall of the season — the NY Post reported. Rooftops and skylines were coated in white as fog and snow reduced visibility throughout the morning.

Outside the city, conditions worsened. Parts of Long Island and New Jersey recorded as much as 8 inches of snow, according to National Weather Service data cited by the NY Post. Pennsylvania was hit even harder in some areas, with widespread accumulations of 6 to 8 inches and isolated pockets seeing up to a foot of snow.

Philadelphia International Airport managed to escape the worst of the disruption, reporting delays of just over an hour, the NY Post noted, while airports from Boston down to Washington, D.C., were slowed by de-icing operations and weather-related safety precautions.

Despite the aviation nightmare, ground travel across the region was largely spared, according to the NY Post. By Sunday afternoon, most highways were cleared and moving smoothly, offering some relief to travelers who opted to drive instead of fly.

Brooklyn residents did report scattered power outages during the storm, the NY Post reported, though Con Edison crews responded quickly to restore service. City officials urged caution on local roads earlier in the day but said conditions steadily improved as snowfall tapered off.

The storm capped off a punishing stretch of Arctic cold that gripped the Northeast for several days, with temperatures hovering at or below freezing, according to the NY Post. While the snow created short-term chaos, forecasters said relief was on the horizon.