July 11, 2026

Philadelphia and Atlanta hit ground stops this afternoon as the storm wall fires again

Ground stops at Philadelphia and Atlanta from thunderstorms, a JFK ground delay program averaging 93 minutes, LaGuardia departure delays over 1 hour 45 minutes, and IAH in thunderstorm delays. Boston's Parade of Sail GDP continues with 524 delays. Miami's World Cup quarterfinal kicks off at 5 PM under a thunderstorm threat.

The afternoon thunderstorm wall that the FAA has forecast all week has partially fired again, the second time this week it verified. As of 3:21 PM EDT, Flight Check's FAA feed shows ground stops active at Philadelphia and Atlanta, a ground delay program at JFK, and significant departure delays at LaGuardia and Houston Intercontinental. This is the same convective pattern that fired twice on July 9 and fizzled every other day. Today it reached Philadelphia and Atlanta, two of the country's biggest connecting hubs.

Philadelphia ground stop, ending 4 PM ET

Philadelphia International is under a ground stop for thunderstorms, expected to end at 4:00 PM EDT. The National Weather Service station at PHL reports cumulonimbus clouds, light rain with thunder, and winds gusting to 33 MPH as of 3:26 PM EDT, with 0.32 inches of rain in the last hour and a temperature of 73 degrees. Departure delays at PHL are running 16 to 30 minutes. Philadelphia is an American Airlines hub and a major connecting point for the Northeast corridor, so the stop ripples into regional and transatlantic banks.

Atlanta ground stop, ending 4:30 PM ET

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta is under a ground stop for thunderstorms, expected to end at 4:30 PM EDT, per Flight Check. The FAA's ATL airport status page shows a traffic management program in effect with departures to ATL held and gate hold and taxi delays of 31 to 45 minutes and increasing. Atlanta is the world's busiest airport and Delta's largest hub. A ground stop here, even a brief one, cascades across the domestic network within minutes as connecting banks miss their push times.

JFK ground delay program through midnight

JFK has a ground delay program for thunderstorms averaging 93 minutes, according to FlightQueue, running until 11:59 PM ET. The FAA's JFK airport status page, updated at 3:26 PM ET, confirms a traffic management program in effect with arriving flights delayed an average of 1 hour 33 minutes. Departure delays at JFK are running 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes due to severe weather avoidance routing, known as SWAP, which sends flights around storm cells on longer routings.

LaGuardia is not under a formal ground stop but has departure delays of 1 hour 31 minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes from weather. Houston Intercontinental has departure delays of 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes from thunderstorms. Both per Flight Check at 3:21 PM EDT.

Boston Parade of Sail GDP continues, delays climb to 524

Boston Logan's ground delay program for the Sail Boston Parade of Sail is still running, averaging 52 minutes and scheduled to end at 5:59 PM ET, per FlightQueue. The Parade of Sail runs from 9 AM to 4 PM today, bringing 50 tall ships and millions of spectators to Boston Harbor, but the GDP extends past the event to work through the arrival backlog. FlightAware now shows 524 delays at Logan today, up from 317 at midday. The cause is the harbor event, not weather: Logan is under visual flight rules with no weather constraint. The Sail Boston event continues through July 16 with ships berthed for public boarding, so Logan may see recurring airspace restrictions through the week if weather compounds the harbor security zones.

Miami World Cup quarterfinal under thunderstorm threat

England faces Norway in a World Cup quarterfinal at 5 PM ET at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, and thunderstorms are threatening both the match and the airport. The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for the Miami area with feels-like temperatures up to 109 degrees, and AccuWeather senior meteorologist Chad Merrill expects afternoon thunderstorms to develop around the stadium before kickoff, Wales Online reports. FIFA rules require a 30-minute suspension if lightning strikes within 8 miles of the venue, and players cannot return until 30 minutes after the last strike.

The FAA's forecast carries Miami in the afternoon ground stop window as POSSIBLE, the lowest confidence level. No ground stop was active at MIA as of 3:21 PM EDT, per Flight Check, but the forecast window and the 5 PM kickoff overlap. Miami is a World Cup host city and a major Latin American gateway, so any ground stop would hit fans flying in for the match and connecting banks feeding South Florida.

Airline waivers still active

Several airline waivers from earlier this week remain active and would cover today's disruptions:

• American Airlines has a severe weather waiver (current as of July 9) for travel July 9 through 12, with changes booked by July 12. Change fees are waived in the same cabin for the same cities.
• United Airlines has an East Coast Thunderstorms travel notice covering BWI, EWR, JFK, LGA, PHL, DCA, and IAD, with tickets purchased on or before July 9 and rebooked travel between July 9 and 12.
• Delta Air Lines has an advisory for EWR, HPN, JFK, and LGA from July 10.
• JetBlue customers should check JetBlue's travel alerts page directly.

If your flight is affected, rebook online through your airline's app or website rather than waiting at the airport. These waivers expire soon: American and United both require rebooking by July 12, which is tomorrow.

What to watch

Philadelphia's ground stop is expected to lift at 4:00 PM ET and Atlanta's at 4:30 PM ET, so both may clear within the next hour. The JFK ground delay program runs until 11:59 PM ET and will likely be revised as storms move through the New York airspace. Watch for Miami to potentially enter a ground stop as the 5 PM World Cup kickoff approaches and the thunderstorm forecast verifies.

For live status, check the FAA NAS Status page and Flight Check. Cancellation and delay totals are available on FlightAware.