Thunderstorms Snarl Florida Flying: RSW Departures Averaging an Hour Late, With Ground Stops in Miami and Fort Lauderdale

The same storms soaking Fort Myers on the ground were stacking up its airport in the air. Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) reported departure delays averaging one hour and increasing on Monday because of thunderstorms, according to the Federal Aviation Administration's National Airspace System dashboard; the airport's notice was updated at 2:16 p.m. with no expected end time listed, and a live FAA feed on Monday evening still showed RSW departures running 1 hour 1 minute to 1 hour 15 minutes late and increasing. By afternoon, FlightAware had recorded hundreds of delayed flights across Fort Myers, Miami and Fort Lauderdale combined.

South Florida's two big hubs fared worse. Miami International was placed under a thunderstorm ground stop listed from 3:11 p.m. to 5 p.m., later extended to 6 p.m., and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International was under a ground stop from 3:40 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., later extended to 6:15 p.m., with departure delays of 45 minutes and decreasing once flights began moving again — after earlier departure delays there had stretched beyond two hours. Both ground stops carried a medium probability of further extension. On the Space Coast, Melbourne Orlando International was listed as closed on the FAA dashboard, and the live feed reported it closed to all but emergency aircraft until Tuesday morning.

For Fort Myers travelers, the practical advice is the unglamorous kind: check your flight before leaving for RSW, expect a delay born hours earlier in Miami or Fort Lauderdale to follow your aircraft, and build slack into any Election Day connection. The weather causing it is the same system that flooded Florida's east coast on Monday — the station's live feed read 71.1 degrees in rain in Fort Myers on Monday evening, with Election Day itself forecast to reach 83.3 degrees between showers.