Weather hampers more than 200 Metro Airport flights By afternoon, there were 68 cancellations and 146 delayed flights

Ellen Creager | Detroit Free Press

We knew it was too good to last. The excellent holiday travel weather ended with a thud today when Detroit Metro Airport reported mounting delays and cancellations due to bad weather sweeping across the middle of the country and into Michigan.

More than 68 arriving and departing flights at Metro were cancelled by midafternoon, with an additional 146 flights showing delays, according to FlightStats.com, which tracks the nation's air traffic. Metro Airport was de-icing aircraft because of freezing rain, sleet and snow, which further delayed flights.

The biggest flight cancellation problems this afternoon continued to be flights headed from Detroit to Chicago O'Hare and Midway airports, but many other routes also saw cancellations, including Delta's flight to Charlotte, Spirit flights to Orlando, Atlanta and New Orleans, and United service to Houston.

Anyone flying today or Tuesday should stay in touch with his or her airline and confirm the flight status before heading to the airport.

Contact Detroit Free Press Travel Writer Ellen Creager at ecreager@freepress.com.