Philadelphia International Airport is experiencing its second straight day of mass delays and cancellations related to Hurricane Debby, the Category 1 storm that recently touched down in Florida.
The airport already reported 77 cancellations and 59 delays as of 8:30 a.m. Monday, said PHL spokesperson Heather Redfern. Most of those are actually related to inbound flights from locations awaiting extreme weather, such as Orlando and Miami.
“Even if it’s not raining and everything is fine here, the weather can still impact us … and there can be a domino effect for days after,” said Redfern.
Ground stops at airports across the country related to thunderstorms and strong winds caused over 100 flights to be canceled and 81 to delayed at PHL on Sunday, according to Redfern. The airport expects today to go similarly.
The majority of these cancellations are due to Hurricane Debby, a tropical storm that transformed into a Category 1 hurricane overnight and is expected to cause catastrophic flooding as it snakes its way up from Florida’s Big Bend region — north of Tampa — into Georgia and South Carolina. The storm recorded sustained winds of 80 mph when it made landfall near Steinhatchee, Fla. at around 7 a.m. Monday and is expected to blanket the regions in its path with up to 18 inches of rain.
The Philadelphia region can also expect some tough weather conditions, according to a thread on X from the National Weather Service at Mount Holly. The city is at moderate risk of excessive rainfall and a flood watch for Tuesday as the moisture associated with Hurricane Debby could “result in heavy tropical downpours.”
Redfern encourages PHL Airport customers to stay in touch with their airline first and foremost, which will have the most up-to-date information on delays and cancellations.