Ash cloud cancels some Canadian flights

ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland, April 19 (UPI) -- Several Canadian flights in and out of Newfoundland were canceled early Monday due to a rare weather phenomenon sucking ash from an Icelandic volcano westward.

Air Canada and Porter Airlines each canceled several flights Sunday night and said on their Web sites more delays or cancellations could follow as the ash cloud approaches, CTV News reported.

Monday morning, the St. John's Airport Authority said its airspace was still open and it was up to individual airlines to decide whether to fly, the Globe and Mail reported.

Meteorologist Stephen Green told CTV the ash from the volcano near the Eyjafjallajokull glacier was floating backwards.

"That is very, very rare for surface-level winds to be dragging particulates west across the Atlantic," Green said.

He said three weather systems -- over Greenland, the Azores and Newfoundland -- were creating a vacuum effect pulling the ash westward against the jet stream.