Flight Tracker: Here's Why More Than 7,000 Flights Have Been Delayed in the USA

This week, a severe winter storm is moving inland through the western United States, causing thousands of flights to be delayed.

On Sunday, there were 245 cancellations and 6,313 delays on US flights, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.

US Flight Delays, Cancelations

By 11 a.m. Monday, 1,442 more flights had been delayed and 104 had been canceled. On Sunday, numerous planes from Seattle, Washington, as well as Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, had delays.

As many of the delayed aircraft had destinations in the western half of the country, more than 100 flights on Monday were delayed from airports in Boston, Massachusetts, New York City, and Washington, DC.

On Sunday, the West Coast was battered by rain and snow, which dumped four feet of snow on the Sierra Nevada mountain range and caused significant floods in southern California. As the storm travels east this week, the National Weather Service (NWS) is issuing blizzard and severe weather warnings for the central United States.

Additionally, the NWS issued flash flood advisories for the lower Mississippi Valley starting on Tuesday. Excessive rainfall is also anticipated for southwest Texas, southern Kansas, and western Oklahoma, as per The Hill.

The storm that hit the West Coast is currently moving east and is expected to deliver blizzard conditions to Colorado from Montana. From Nebraska to South Dakota, the Heartland will first see freezing rain and severe winds Monday night. Tuesday morning will see a changeover to snow. This week, the Northern Plains might receive 1 to 2 feet of snow.

Winter Storm Warning

Per ABC11, extreme cold and gusts of 55 mph should also be anticipated in the area. Extreme wind chills as low as 20 below zero could induce frostbite on exposed skin in western Nebraska and eastern Wyoming in as little as 30 minutes.

Beginning Monday night, Texas to Nebraska should get ready for destructive winds, tornadoes, and hail. Tuesday will see storms pound the south, from Texas to Mississippi to Oklahoma.

The storm's focal point will be over the Gulf states on Wednesday, from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle. Strong storms may develop by Thursday across Georgia and the Florida Peninsula.

The storm will move into the Northeast on Thursday as well, dumping snow in Pennsylvania, upstate New York, and New England. On Thursday and Friday, snowfall of more than six inches is possible.

Over a foot of snow, severe winds, and blizzard conditions are anticipated in the northern Plains to begin this week before possibly dumping a significant quantity of snow across a wider part of the Midwest, according to AccuWeather forecasters.

According to the National Weather Service, a blizzard lasts for at least three hours and involves "blowing and/or falling snow with gusts of at least 35 mph, decreasing visibilities to a quarter of a mile or less."

Additionally, the lower 48 states are likely to see "bitterly" frigid temperatures between December 20 and December 26. The Central Plains will experience temperatures below zero, with the northern Rocky Mountains and northern plains perhaps experiencing lows in the negative teens.

Temperatures will drop into the single digits and teens in parts of the south and east, including the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic regions, and the Northeast. The Southern Plains and Southeast are also predicted to experience below-freezing temperatures, USA Today reported.