TOLEDO, Ohio — Ominous weather forecasts of severe snow, winds and chills are keeping travelers' eyes out for the latest weather updates for how travel plans may be affected. Local travel experts warned everyone to expect delays.
Christianne Box, a travel advisor for northwest Ohio-based Central Travel said she's had an uptick in calls from people wondering if it's going to ruin their plans.
"I've been in the industry for approximately 20 years and what we typically see during this time are clients that are concerned about how this is going to affect their actual flight," she said.
Box, who works at Central Travel's Sylvania office, said the weather that everyone wants to fly away from is the same weather that could cancel or delay their flight.
She recommends consistently checking for changes and delays from your airline carrier.
"Of course, everyone wants to go and be in a destination that is full of sunshine and lots of fun," Box said. "But sometimes getting there, especially with living up in the north and getting to the south, that definitely is a potential risk factor that they have to look at."
She also said to check for delays by calling your airline 24 hours before your flight.
"If we have travelers coming to the airport, we want to make sure they leave a little bit earlier," Box said. "Make sure they get here at least, the airlines would recommend, two hours prior to departure so that way if anyone experiences any kind of travel delays while they are driving to the airport, they can still make their flight," Eugene F. Kranz Toledo Express Airport Director Tim O'Donnell said.
As of Monday evening, no flights from the Toledo airport are delayed due to expected high winds. O'Donnell said to check back throughout the week as the storm develops.
"An aircraft can handle a lot of wind," he said. "In fact, it requires wind in order to take off … so if we get a lot of wind, it just means we'll get up in the air a little bit faster."
The Toledo airport begins to prepare its airfield a year in advance for the chance of snowy conditions.