TAMPA, Fla. — As we head into a holiday week with the Fourth of July right around the corner, a busy travel weekend hit some snarls due to the weather.
The Camac family is visiting from Phoenix, and their flight was delayed coming into Tampa International Airport because of the rain.
"We were up there going in circles for like 30, 45 minutes,” said Cade Camac. “We were supposed to get in at like 2:30 p.m. I think we got in at like 3:15 p.m., so it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great."
A round of thunderstorms passed through the Tampa Bay Area Saturday afternoon. Signs heading into TPA earlier in the afternoon warned passengers there was lightning in the area and to expect delays.
As of about 8:00 p.m. Saturday, TPA listed 205 delays and 7 cancellations out of 516 total flights.
While we don't know if the weather was the reason behind all of those delays or cancellations, ABC Action News heard from some people who were impacted by Saturday's storms.
“It's about two and a half hours right now, so we left home a little bit later, but we've still got a long time to wait here,” said Elizabeth Finne, who was traveling to Philadelphia.
TPA said they expect nearly 3.4 million passengers during the busy summer travel months between Memorial Day and mid-August when students return to school, an estimated four percent increase over the same period in 2023.
"It was really busy in Phoenix, so we did have to get there early,” said Jenny Camac.
Passengers should plan to arrive early: at least two hours before domestic and three hours before international flights is recommended.
While summer thunderstorms in Florida are routine, TPA said, thankfully, most storms are brief and cause only short pauses in flight schedules.
Of course, make sure to check with your airline ahead of time to make sure your flight is still leaving on time.
