Nor'easter IV Coming

Tennis-ball-sized Hail, Heavy Snow, and Coastal Flooding Could Ruin Your Travel Plans This Week

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Here's how to get a travel waiver. 

MELANIE LIEBERMAN

Tuesday may be the first day of spring, but severe, unseasonal, and downright strange weather is once again barreling toward the Eastern Seaboard.

Though this Nor’easter — the fourth storm this month — is in very early stages, meteorologists predict freezing rain, heavy snowfall, coastal flooding, and strong wind gusts for areas spanning the mid-Atlantic and Northeast.


And airlines are responding by issuing travel advisories and waiving change fees. Southwest Airlines, for example, has warned of service disruptions (including delays, diversions, and cancelations) for flights to and from the regions starting on Tuesday, March 20 and extending until Thursday, March 22. Delta Air Lines and JetBlue have also issued similar alerts.

At this time, neither United nor American Airlines have made an announcement about waiving change fees or fare differences.

Delta Air Lines “Northeast Weather” Advisory

Travelers flying to or from select cities in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Washington, D.C. on March 20 or 21 may make an itinerary change without incurring a change fee or paying the difference in fare, as long as travel is rebooked by March 25.

JetBlue “Mid-Atlantic Winter Storm” Waiver

On Monday afternoon, JetBlue issued a very specific rebooking waiver for customers traveling on March 20 or 21 to Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Washington, D.C.

Southwest “Winter Storm Toby” Advisory

Southwest issued a warning for travelers flying to or from Baltimore, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, and Washington, D.C. on March 20 or 21; Long Island, New York City, and Newark on March 21; and Boston, Hartford, Portland, Providence, and Manchester, New Hampshire on March 21 or 22.

Though not the same weather system, travelers in the Southeast are also bracing for downright dreadful weather. According to the Associated Press, parts of Alabama were warned of “tennis ball-sized hail and 70-mile-per-hour winds” Monday afternoon.

Tornado-spawning supercells and strong thunderstorms were also on the weather report for Georgia, Tennessee, and Mississippi.