Airlines cancel over 1,300 US flights as winter storm grips states

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Airlines canceled more than 1,300 flights in the United States on Wednesday as a strong winter storm makes its way through the western and central states.

A total of 1,327 flights within, into and out of the United States were canceled by 12:30 p.m. ET, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware, which also showed 2,030 flights were delayed.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a tweet on Tuesday the severe weather could cause flight delays or cancellations this week in Minnesota and other states in the Great Lakes and southern plains.

Snow falling at a rate of two inches an hour and gusty winds will make travel conditions treacherous and perhaps impossible in parts of the Northern Plains and the Upper Midwest, the National Weather Service said in its forecast on Tuesday.

Regional carrier SkyWest Inc (SKYW.O) led the cancellations with 312 flights, followed by low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines Co's (LUV.N) 248 and Delta Air Lines' (DAL.N) 246 flight cancellations.

Southwest and Delta said they are monitoring the storm, while SkyWest did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.