What the heck is going on at LGA tonight?
 

What the heck is going on at LGA tonight? Supposedly weather, but what weather type is exactly the problem. Doesn't look wet or windy. 10 miles visibility isn't enough?

There are storms moving into the Tri-State area.. PHL is already under them.

Earlier today at 2 pm, why were they on ground hold?

LGA Ground delay program starting at 1700GMT (1 pm Eastern), followed by several ground stops through the afternoon and evening.

I don't know how NYC FFs stay sane. Every day during the summer there seems to be a ground stop at LGA.

Welcome to NY. Storms within 250 miles screw up our ATC. It's obnoxious.

It really is terrible. Then try waiting an hour for a cab once you land.

Why didn't you try Lyft or Uber instead?

FYI that's still 20 minutes at least.

I am in and out of NYC a few times a month and have found that morning flights are the key. I used to try and fly in early morning, have a few meetings and then fly out later that night. The early flights in to LGA were always fine, but the evening flights back out after a long day were almost always delayed or even cancelled. Sooooo, i now stay a night purposely and fly out the next morning. Its just not worth the hassle of play LGA Evening Roulette.

I concur. Every time I have a sched departure later than 16:00 I encounter some form of ground stop. I usually have an onward connection, so I just make sure I am backstopped appropriately.

But these delays, coupled with the destruction/construction project, have me flying in/out of EWR or JFK when possible. The lesser(s) of three evils, I guess.

Today is worse, even without a ground stop. My 12:40 PM to MKE is delayed until 4:13 PM. I get that weather wreaks havoc on airports, but NYC airports, especially LGA, seem to take so much longer to recover than other airports. And I don't think it's jutstbthe air traffic.

LGA is an old-style postage stamp airport trying to function as a hub for two airlines. There's just not enough space for all the traffic that it sees. Plus ground control is extra touchy about the runways during bad weather after that MD88 nearly went into the East River a few years ago.

The overall ATC situation has a lot to do with it. During peak times, ZNY/ZBW/ZDC are packed to the gills, and there's not much extra slack when things go south. Exhibit A of why the US needs a complete ATC overhaul. True high-speed rail in the NEC would also help a lot, but that's getting off-topic.

I'm getting close to needing therapy, the last 5 flights in a row in/out of LGA have been 2+ hrs delayed.

Having to deal with the NYC subway system on a daily basis is good practice.