It’s going to be a bumpy ride today, with plummeting temperatures and powerful 50-mph gusts expected to cause air-traffic delays as a winter storm blasts across the northeast.
The 25-mph winds and gusts doubling in strength “could cause delays at the airports,” said AccuWeather.com forecaster John Feerick.
Temperatures will dive from 44 degrees into the 20s tonight, but with whipping winds it will feel like single digits.
It will be cold and windy tomorrow, too.
“I think we can safely say winter is here,” Feerick said.
“The calendar may not say it’s the official start, but as far as the weather goes, winter is here,” he said.
Winter officially starts Dec. 22 and lasts until March 20.
Some relief will come on Wednesday with winds dying down for the rest of the week, but it’ll still be cold enough to wear earmuffs and mittens.
There’s also a possibility of snow later on Wednesday, Feerick warned.
Yesterday, flights in and out of La Guardia Airport experienced 90-minute delays.
John Strachan, 58, and his wife had flown from Toronto to see “Jersey Boys” on Broadway over the weekend. They were due to head back yesterday on an Air Canada flight that was canceled.
“In Toronto, this weather is nothing,” he said. “I guess we’ll go back to the city and book a hotel room for the night.”
Flights from Dallas, San Diego, San Antonio, St. Louis, Chicago and Boston were either delayed or canceled.
New Jersey resident Farshad Kamali, 43, grumped about the delay in picking up his wife, Ladi, who was flying in from Chicago.
“She was sitting on the plane for three hours before they told her the flight was canceled,” he said.
He hadn’t heard if she was able to board a later flight. “I’m worried about her.”
A jet-lagged Sunny Hong-Taylor, 36, and her hubby were trying to make a connection home to Newport News, Va., after flying 14 hours from Seoul, South Korea, visiting relatives.
“They’re saying the flight is canceled because of snow, but if you look outside, it stopped,” she said bitterly.
“I just took a 14-hour flight and I’m tired and sleepy and I want to get home.”