The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website.
It was a gnarly Memorial Day weekend in North Texas as severe thunderstorms and strong winds blew across the region. In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the storms continued on into Tuesday, with winds reaching 70-80 mph Tuesday morning.
It's hard to really visualize how powerful those wind speeds are until you see their impact in action. Even a large Boeing jet parked at DFW Airport was no match for the intense hurricane-force winds. Security camera footage from the airport showed the jet being effortlessly pushed away from the gate by the storm!
According to @dailymail , this American Airlines jet appears to be a Boeing 737-800 , which weighs about 90,000 lbs when empty. Yet even the plane's immense weight couldn't hold a candle to the storm that was barreling down on DFW International Airport with wind speeds equivalent to the strength of a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale .
Related: Severe Turbulence on Singapore Airlines Flight Leaves One Person Dead
Fortunately, while the plane was docked at the boarding gate before it blew away, no one was on the wayward jet at the time. Nor was there anyone on the several other planes that were reportedly affected by the early morning storm.
"Severe weather, including straight-line wind gusts up to 80 mph , at our Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) hub affected several parked unoccupied aircraft," American Airlines said in a statement shared to Simple Flying . "There were no injuries. Our maintenance team is currently conducting thorough inspections and will make any needed repairs."
Conditions at DFW Airport on Wednesday
Severe weather conditions continued to impact operations at DFW Airport throughout the day yesterday. Simple Flying reported that nearly a quarter of DFW's flights had been delayed as of 3:00 pm Tuesday, and American Airlines alone had 853 delays and 184 cancellations. It was a tough day for Memorial Day travelers trying to fight their way back home through Dallas.
Though it's just past 9:30 am in Dallas today, it looks like their Wednesday might end up being a rocky one, too. At the time I'm writing this, Dallas Fort Worth holds the top spot on FlightAware's " Misery Map ," with at least 68 delays and 28 cancellations since 8 am today.
The good news is that the weather today doesn't look nearly as foul as it did yesterday. FlightStats.com forecasts mostly cloudy weather over DFW today, with winds reaching 5-10 mph. No need to fear the wind blowing the plane out from under you as you board!
Hopefully the mellow weather in Dallas today will minimize local delays, but severe weather at other airport hubs can still back things up and cause flight delays regardless. With any luck, things will start picking up as the day goes on, but if you're flying out of or into DFW today, keep checking for delay updates with your airline- and safe travels.
For more WanderWisdom updates, be sure to follow us on Google News !
Have you had a funny, interesting, or just highly memorable experience while traveling? We'd love for you to submit a video of your travels for a chance to be featured on WanderWisdom and our social channels! Click here to upload your clip and share your adventures with the world.
Local News
Comments / 0