Airlines cancel hundreds of flights ahead of heavy snow in Northeast

Feb. 8 (UPI) -- More than 1,500 commercial flights scheduled to depart or arrive Thursday in the U.S. Northeast have been canceled, as the region braces for what's expected to be a significant winter storm.

Flights for several carriers from Pennsylvania to New England were scrapped Wednesday due to the approaching weather system.

By Wednesday afternoon, JetBlue, which has a hub in New York City, had already canceled nearly 600 Thursday flights. American preemptively axed almost 450 scheduled flights and Southwest removed 180 flights from its Thursday schedule. Delta and United listed a small number of cancellations.

Flights as far south as Washington, D.C., could also be affected. Forecasters expect up to a foot of snow by late Thursday.

The National Weather Service said "a significant snowstorm is appearing more likely from later [Wednesday] into Thursday across portions of the mid-Atlantic into parts of New England."

More than 40 million people will be under a winter storm watch, and 12 million will be under winter weather advisories. The weather in the region will change quickly from unseasonably warm to cold.

Meteorologists say the snow will start falling in Boston and Hartford, Conn., around mid-morning Thursday and intensify in the afternoon to accumulate. In New York and Philadelphia, the snow will arrive Thursday morning, with 30 mph winds causing whiteout conditions. Six inches to a foot will fall in New York, and 5 to 10 inches in Philadelphia.

Washington is expected to see fewer than a half-inch of snow, the National Weather Service said.

The storm will affect several major interstates -- Interstates 68, 70, 76, 78, 80, 81, 83, 84 and 95.

"The wet, clinging nature of the snow will weigh down tree limbs and could lead to sporadic power outages," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Henry Margusity.