Thunderstorms Ground Flights to LaGuardia as Delays Top Two Hours

Airfield conditions are rough: rain, 20 mph winds, and visibility down to 2.5 miles. Even when the ground stop lifts, the congestion will not vanish. The FAA already has a ground delay program running with inbound delays averaging 2 hours and 23 minutes. If you are already at LGA waiting to leave, outbound flights are facing departure delays averaging between 1 hour and 46 minutes and 2 hours. FAA data estimates 745 flights will feel the effects of this system today.

What this means

LaGuardia runs on a knife's edge during clear weather. Today, that buffer is gone. Based on BTS data over the last six months, LGA posts a 73.4% on-time rate, with late flights averaging a 78-minute delay. Today's delays are running roughly an hour worse than that baseline.

The pipeline feeding the airport is degraded. About 8% of LGA's scheduled inbound traffic is tied up at disrupted feeder airports, led by Boston Logan (BOS), which is dealing with its own ground stop. Because your outbound aircraft is likely sitting on a runway in another city right now, departures scheduled for 7:00 PM and later will inherit these delays through the rest of the night.

What to do

• Track the inbound aircraft, not your flight status. Open your airline app and find the "Where is my plane coming from?" feature. If that plane has not taken off for LGA yet, your departure time will slide further.
• Protect your connection. If LGA is your intermediate stop tonight, you are at severe risk of a misconnect. Jump on your airline app or message support now to look at alternative routing through southern hubs, or push your trip to tomorrow morning.
• Consider the train for regional trips. If you are flying between New York and Boston or Washington, check Amtrak availability. With Northeast Corridor airspace snarled on both ends, rail is currently a far safer bet than waiting out the tarmac queue.

Outlook

The FAA's current target to lift the ground stop is 5:30 PM EST. Expect arrivals to transition into metered spacing immediately after, meaning the 2-hour-plus ground delays will persist through the evening push. Recovery will take several hours, and travelers on late-bank departures should prepare for rolling delays and potential crew-timeout cancellations before midnight.