NEW YORK — Heavy downpours and damaging winds pummeled parts of New York City Thursday wreaking havoc on travel plans ahead of what’s expected to be a mild Memorial Day Weekend,
The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Manhattan, Staten Island and Brooklyn, as well as part of Queens and the Bronx until 10:45 a.m., but rain and thunderstorms are expected through the afternoon.
Just before 10 a.m., independent journalist Janet Wu shared a video of the “insane thunderstorms” hitting Midtown Manhattan on X.
The extreme weather also affected flights to and from all area airports, prompting the Federal Aviation Administration to issue a ground stop for the entire area.
While all the ground stops have since been lifted, their impact will likely be felt throughout the day.
As of 2 p.m., more than 120 flights at three of the nation’s busiest airports — Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark — were canceled due to the extreme weather, according to data compiled by FlightAware.
Significant delays affecting at least 1,300 flights have also been reported: 432 flight delays at JFK, 543 at LaGuardia and 390 at Newark.
LaGuardia continued to have a ground delay of about 97 minutes early Thursday afternoon, according to the FAA’s Air Traffic Control System Command Center.
The agency is urging all passengers to check with their airlines to see if their flights were affected.