July 19, 2026

JFK, Newark, and Teterboro ground stops run to 11:30 PM as a third storm wave hit the Northeast after the second one ended

The third wave the FAA's 9:30 PM operations plan flagged has fired across ten Northeast airports. JFK, Newark, and Teterboro ground stops are extended to 11:30 PM ET, Boston and Hartford to 11 PM, LaGuardia averaged over four hours before its stop ended at 10:45, and the FAA's plan for tomorrow puts Newark and Teterboro back in the wall two hours before the World Cup Final at MetLife.

The third wave is live, and it is still running

The second wave my last issue tracked had largely expired by 8:30 PM ET. Then a new round of thunderstorms built into the New York metro terminals after 8:45 PM ET, and the FAA's Command Center issued a fresh set of ground stops across ten airports between 9:01 and 10:44 PM ET.

As of the latest advisories, three ground stops are still active past 11:30 PM ET:

• JFK, ground stop to 11:30 PM ET, average delay 170 minutes, maximum 498 minutes, 3,230 flights in the program. Routes opened via Cleveland and Boston Centers, but departures feeding through DC Center remain stopped (ADVZY 038).
• Newark, ground stop to 11:30 PM ET, average 156 minutes, maximum 307 minutes, 4,999 flights. Extended one hour from its original 10:30 PM end (ADVZY 040).
• Teterboro, ground stop to 11:30 PM ET, average 188 minutes, maximum 255 minutes, 754 flights. DC Center departures remain stopped while Cleveland and Boston routes open (ADVZY 039).

Three more run to 11:00 PM ET: Boston (average 108 minutes, 3,231 flights, ADVZY 020), Hartford Bradley (average 164 minutes, maximum 613 minutes, ADVZY 021), and Philadelphia for American Airlines flights only (average 88 minutes, extended an hour at the airline's request, ADVZY 034).

LaGuardia's ground stop ended at 10:45 PM ET after averaging 251 minutes, with a maximum of 722 minutes, across 3,008 flights (ADVZY 030). White Plains ended at the same time (average 111 minutes). The FAA cancelled the DCA and BWI ground stops just after 10 PM ET, noting routes were available, and the Florida hotline was terminated at 9:05 PM ET as that convection moved off.

What the FAA's evening plan actually says

The operations plan covering this wave is ADVZY 032, signed around 9:30 PM ET. Its opening line: "Next round of thunderstorms is starting to impact the NY metro terminals. Facilities are strategically opening/closing arrival/departure gates." The plan confirms the ten-airport ground stop list and adds three details worth tracking.

First, diversion recovery is activated for the New York airports from 10 PM to 1 AM ET (ADVZY 033), meaning the FAA expects diverted flights and wants them flagged in flight plans.

Second, staffing triggers are back, unlike the clean weather days earlier this week. The plan lists ZAU Southeast Area until 11 PM ET, ZDC Area 5 until 11:30 PM, ZDC Area 6 and ORD Operations until midnight, C90 (Chicago TRACON) operations until 6 AM, and BOS Operations tomorrow from 1 PM to 3:30 PM ET. DC Center staffing in Areas 5 and 6 is compounding the route closures over ZDC, which is why JFK, Newark, and Teterboro ground stops keep the DC Center departures stopped even as Cleveland and Boston routes open.

Third, three ground delay programs are running into the overnight: Boston to 11:59 PM ET, San Francisco to 2:59 AM ET (operational readjustment, not weather), and Chicago O'Hare to 3:59 AM ET. If you have a late overnight arrival into any of those, expect controlled departure times at your origin.

Tomorrow: the World Cup Final at MetLife, with Newark back in the wall

The same advisory carries the plan for Sunday, and the terminal constraints line reads "FIFA FINAL - MET LIFE STADIUM." Spain plays Argentina in the World Cup Final at 3 PM ET Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, confirmed by FIFA, MetLife Stadium, and USA Today. MetLife sits inside the same New York airspace that is under ground stop tonight.

The FAA's Sunday plan puts Newark, Teterboro, MMU, and Caldwell back in the ground stop or delay program window after 1 PM ET, two hours before kickoff, with TPA and MCO possible at 2 PM and Atlanta and Charlotte possible at 3 PM. In other words, the airports serving the World Cup Final are forecast to be in the convective wall again right as fan arrivals peak. The N90 and PHL route swaps are also back in the plan after 2 PM.

This is not a forecast to bank on. The same Northeast wall template has fizzled more days than it has fired this month. But tonight's third wave is a reminder that when the convection does verify over New York, it hits the exact airports the Final depends on, and the FAA is explicitly carrying them in tomorrow's plan.

Rebooking and what to check

Airlines have waivers in place for this weekend's Northeast storms, posted midday Saturday (Johnny Jet roundup):

• American covers BWI, BOS, BDL, JFK, LGA, EWR, PHL, PVD, IAD, DCA, and HPN for travel July 17 to 18, rebook by July 22. Tickets must be issued by July 16. Check aa.com travel alerts.
• Delta covers EWR, HPN, JFK, and LGA for travel July 16 to 18, reissue by July 21. Check delta.com advisories.
• United covers BDL, BOS, BWI, DCA, EWR, IAD, LGA, PHL, and PVD for travel July 18 to 19, the only waiver that runs into Sunday. Check united.com travel alerts.
• JetBlue covers JFK, LGA, EWR, and HPN for July 18, rebook through July 23, tickets before July 17. Check jetblue.com travel alerts.

If you are flying to the World Cup Final on Sunday, United's waiver is the one that covers your travel date, and Newark is the airport in the FAA's tomorrow wall. Check your carrier's page directly before assuming any of these still apply, since airlines update the dates as the forecast shifts.

For live status, the FAA NAS Status page and the FAA advisory page are the primary sources, and FlightAware tracks cancellations and delays.

Tracking

Boston's ground delay program runs to 11:59 PM ET, so residual controlled departure times will persist into the late evening even after the ground stop lifts. San Francisco's GDP runs to 2:59 AM ET and O'Hare's to 3:59 AM ET, both for non-convective reasons. The DCA and BWI ground stops are cancelled with routes available, so Washington and Baltimore should recover faster than the New York airports tonight. If the Newark or Teterboro ground stops extend again past 11:30 PM, that will push the recovery into the overnight banks and complicate Sunday morning repositioning for the Final.