Airlines Issue Waivers, Cancel Flights As Tropical Storm Hilary Drenches West Coast
Los Angeles International Airport saw the most delays, while Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport, San Diego International Airport, and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport were also impacted.
Tropical Storm Hilary drenched California over the weekend, dumping more than half a year’s worth of rain in some areas and snarling travel up and down the West Coast.
The storm, which the Associated Press reported made landfall on Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula on Sunday and was the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years, caused chaos at West Coast airports. Overall on Sunday, there were more than 1,000 cancellations within, into, or out of the United States and more than 5,500 delays, according to flight tracker site FlightAware.
Los Angeles International Airport saw the most delays with 290 late flights, or 29 percent of its entire schedule. Other flight disruptions were also centered around Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport, San Diego International Airport, and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
The travel issues were expected to tumble over into Monday. As of the morning, more than 280 flights had already been canceled, the majority of which belonged to Southwest Airlines.
Several airlines issued travel waivers for the West Coast through Monday, waiving change fees and fare differences, including Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue, Spirit Airlines, Frontier Airlines, and Hawaiian Airlines. The waivers, which vary by carrier, include airports in popular cities like Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Palm Springs, and San Diego.
The California Department of Transportation (or Caltrans) also issued a travel alert, warning motorists not to drive through flooded areas and pay attention to posted signs.
Beyond travel issues, California officials took precautions by closing all state beaches in Orange and San Diego counties through Monday, while the National Park Service closed both Joshua Tree National Park and Death Valley National Park due to the threat of severe rainfall and flash flooding.
The disruptions came as Hilary dumped a deluge of rainfall on California. In San Diego, the city saw its wettest day on record in August as 1.82 inches of rain fell, according to the National Weather Service, which posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
By early Monday, the National Hurricane Center downgraded Hilary to a post-tropical cyclone, but warned the storm was still expected to “cause life-threatening to locally catastrophic flash, urban, and arroyo flooding including landslides, mudslides, and debris flows today” across the Southwest. The West Coast should also expect “strong and gusty winds,” especially in higher terrain areas.
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