Post-Thanksgiving travelers in Chicago see hundreds of flights canceled
and delayed after snowstorm
[December 01, 2025]
By ADAM SCHRECK and NAM Y. HUH
CHICAGO (AP) — Don Herrian was among the crowds of travelers at
Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on Sunday hoping to make it back
home after Thanksgiving as hundreds of flights were delayed and canceled
following a winter storm in the Great Lakes region.
“It is what it is,” Herrian said. “It’s congested but that’s expected
due to the snow, the delays and the holidays.”
The 76-year-old retiree from Ardmore, Oklahoma, had visited his daughter
and her family in Indianapolis. He said his first flight was three hours
late, and his connecting flight to Oklahoma City from Chicago was
already running another two hours behind.
“I just hope I get home tonight,” he said.
On Saturday, 8.4 inches (21.34 centimeters) of snow fell at O'Hare,
setting a record for the highest single calendar day snowfall in
November at the airport, according to the National Weather Service. That
broke the previous record of 8 inches (20.32 centimeters) on Nov. 6,
1951.
Roads leading to the airport were packed Sunday with slow-moving
vehicles even after the roads had been cleared of snow. Inside, delayed
travelers crowded into gate seating areas, restaurants and sports bars
to pass the time. Others grabbed spots on the floors of the terminals,
snacking, knitting or scrolling their phones.
About 300 flights into and out of O’Hare had been canceled by early
evening, while about 1,600 had been delayed, according to the tracking
site FlightAware.
Planes were being de-iced at several airports across the country on
Sunday, including at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and
Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport, according to the FAA.
Over 12 inches (about 30 centimeters) of snow had fallen since Saturday
in areas close to Lake Michigan. Hundreds of churches in western
Michigan told worshippers to stay home or watch services online.
In Wisconsin, utility crews worked to restore power to thousands of
people. We Energies reported more than 6,000 power outages, with more
than half in Milwaukee and South Milwaukee. The airport in Des Moines,
Iowa, reopened on the critical travel day after a Delta Connection
flight landing from Detroit slid off an icy runway. No injuries were
reported, and passengers were transported to the terminal by bus.
By early Sunday evening there were over 400 flights into and out of
Detroit Metro Airport that were delayed and over 45 canceled, according
to FlightAware.
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An American airplane arrives at the O'Hare International Airport in
Chicago, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Elsewhere in Iowa, gusty winds Sunday were blowing snow back onto
roads, extending hazardous travel conditions, the National Weather
Service said.
“We did have areas of Iowa and Illinois that saw over one foot of
snow,” said meteorologist Andrew Orrison.
Over 16 inches (40 centimeters) of snow fell in Fort Dodge, Iowa,
according to the National Weather Service.
Orrison said snow in the Great Lakes region was tapering off, but a
new storm was heading to the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, with up to
a foot (30 centimeters) of snow by Tuesday.
“It's going to be the first snowfall of the season for many of these
areas, and it's going to be rather significant," Orrison said. “The
good news is that it does not look like the major cities at this
point are going to be looking at any significant snowfall.”
At O’Hare on Sunday, Will Barney, 25, was trying to get home to
Charlotte, North Carolina.
“I think I’m on my third delay,” Barney, a data governance analyst,
said while sitting in a corridor between concourses. “I just kept
walking until I could find somewhere to sit down so I’m not
elbow-to-elbow,” he said.
Traffic was so bad getting into the airport that his father dropped
him off at the car rental entrance, and he took the internal airport
train in.
“You had Thanksgiving. Then you add the snow on top of that,” Barney
said. “Thank God the government’s not shut down too.”
___
Associated Press reporter Jamie Stengle contributed to this story
from Dallas.
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