Fog causes ground stop at San Diego International Airport – NBC 7 San Diego

Fog created a travel nightmare at San Diego International Airport on Friday as travelers wrapped up the New Year’s Eve holiday.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop for SAN Thursday evening, causing a domino effect of delays and cancellations that continued to impact travelers Friday morning as fog continued to blanket the San Diego coast.

“The flights are currently delayed by 90 minutes,” said SAN spokeswoman Nicole Hall. “Flights are currently arriving and departing, but due to ground delays last night and this morning, we expect delays for the rest of today as we catch up.”

Hall advised travelers to check their flight status before heading to the airport.

NBC7

Thursday’s ground stop came amid a dense fog warning for coastal areas of San Diego County that was in effect until 10 a.m. Friday. Visibility was reduced to a quarter mile in some areas, according to NBC 7 meteorologist Brooke Martell.

SAN’s website was flooded with red as flights were delayed on Friday. FlightAware, an unofficial flight tracking website, showed nearly 300 delays and 40 cancellations as of 11 a.m

Although the fog is expected to clear in the afternoon, it is possible that the coast will become foggy again Friday evening, Martell said.

The airport’s holiday travel season runs through Sunday, meaning it’s estimated that about 80,000 people will be departing and arriving at SAN every day between now and then.

A Canadian family was among the hundreds affected by delays. The Gendreau family was scheduled to fly out at 7:15 a.m. but will be stuck at the airport until at least 1 p.m

“We found out this morning when we arrived because all of my reservations were made through my phone and it was turned off because I’m Canadian in the U.S. so I didn’t get any notification before we got here,” Alain Gendreau said. “We We have no choice. So choose your battle. There’s nothing we can do.

This is a developing story that will be updated as more information arrives.