Winter weather hit Dallas hard on Monday, causing hundreds of flight cancellations and closing schools and roads.
More than half the scheduled flights -- about 550 -- at Dallas-Fort Worth airport were canceled Monday, as well as a third of the flights at Dallas Love Field, according to FlightAware.
The winter storm is dropping up to two inches of sleet, with some freezing rain thrown into the mix, on the Dallas-Fort Worth area through 6 p.m. CT on Monday. Temperatures in the low 20s are ensuring that the sleet accumulates on roadways, runways and taxiways, making conditions extremely slick. Those conditions forced airlines to cancel the flights, DFW Public Affairs Senior Manager David Magaña said.
Travelers at Dallas airports posted photos of icy runways as they waited -- hopeful -- for remaining flights.
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NO rush hour in metro #DFW on the Airport Freeway in Irving thanks to ice/sleet/snow. High temp 35° below average. pic.twitter.com/LQFFumOrwc— Mike Seidel (@mikeseidel) February 23, 2015
At other airports around the country, flights to Dallas were either canceled or delayed. Most major airlines have waived change fees.
Dallas-Fort Worth is a hub for American Airlines, which is waiving change fees for passengers scheduled to travel on Monday. Virgin America is allowing customers to change tickets without fees for dates through March 1. Travelers should check with their airline on their flight status and available options.
If you were flying to Dallas from @LITAirport today - all flights are cancelled it delayed right now. #arwx @THV11— Alyse Eady (@alyseeady) February 23, 2015
Dallas flight got canceled, stuck in Austin till tomorrow morning.— Oli (@LivMoore19) February 22, 2015
Sitting at airport in Boston where we've had most snow on record & delayed to Dallas due to an ice storm there. #cantgetaway #Winter2015— Ben Breslau (@benbreslau) February 23, 2015
Temperatures are not expected to rise above the freezing point until Tuesday afternoon. The storm has a broad reach, bringing snow, sleet and freezing rain to areas from Colorado to Arkansas.
As of 9 a.m. Monday local time, FlightAware was reporting 555 cancelations at Dallas-Fort Worth and 64 at Dallas Love Field.
But some travelers were taking the delays and closures in stride.
My flight from Dallas was delayed a few hours which means I now have time for about 3 more trips to Whataburger— LaMike (@LaMike11) February 23, 2015
School canceled in Dallas. Hahaha pic.twitter.com/2JaRLTHwrA— Alex Mayes (@AlexEMayes) February 23, 2015
Additional reporting by Andrew Freedman.