Airport Conditions

We will be flying through Minneapolis on Sat. morning and see they are expecting snow. I know Minnesota gets a lot of snow, so I was wondering if this slows down the airport or does traffic flow as usual?

Airport Conditions

I only know it will snow-- haven%26#39;t seen a forecast for snowfall totals. All I can tell you is snow -- if heavy enough -- can significantly slow your travel or even cancel a flight because of decreased visibility and traction. Although few airports are equipped to handle snow as well as MSP international. It%26#39;s nothing new to the folks there. My flight to London last year left in a total whiteout. I swear I couldn%26#39;t even see the tip of the wing and we got the go-ahead to take off. A testament to snow-removal and de-icing crews and others.

I would suggest you do what I have done in these situations. Go to the airport armed with the departure times of flights on your airline for the day -- or at least have the airline customer service number in your phone. That way you can be armed with info and beat your competition (fellow travelers) to the punch when it comes to finding alternate flights (perhaps later ones if yours is canceled and visibility clears up later in the day). I%26#39;ve waited on hold for up to 3 hours to get through in those cases but I also got on a same day flight that saved my trip!

Wish I could help more but I%26#39;m afraid you%26#39;re left to the whim of our curiously evil weather god up here. He likes to mess with people%26#39;s travel.

I hope all my worst-case scenario stuff ends up being for naught. Maybe we%26#39;ll just see light snow all day Saturday and then you%26#39;ll be fine.

Airport Conditions

Traveler,

MNtoathens pretty much hit it on the head. I haven%26#39;t flown in a snowstorm, but if there is any airport that would be prepared for snow and storms, it would be MSP. Follow his advice and pray for the best. You%26#39;ll make it, but perhaps a little late at worst.

Also, a big thing to keep in mind is that if your plane is late arriving due to snow, almost all other planes will be late, too, so the chances to make connections is rather good.

this sounds like a no-brainer, but ...

A lot of times when flights are cancelled, they are canceled hours (sometimes as long as 24 hours in advance) if FAA and airline knows that the visibility will be too poor for takeoff or landing. It happened to me. A flight to Orlando was canceled 24 hours before hand -- I just happened to check my itinerary online with the airline and saw it was canceled. After getting over my initial anger (';Quitters!';), I realized it was a much better situation than having it canceled once I got to the airport. It enabled me to call a day in advance and get on an earlier flight that got out of Minneapolis before the brunt of the storm/

Getting steady snow this morning -- at least on the west side. I%26#39;d assume things are slow at MSP, but probably nothing that they can%26#39;t deal with. This is really just and average snowfall and the wind is very light.