Storm Leaves Many Passengers Stranded At New York Airports

While not all flights were canceled, may travelers hoping to fly out of New York's LaGuardia Airport are going to have to find a place in the city to stay for the night, as an approaching winter storm causes havoc with Northeast travel plans.

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FEBRUARY 8, 2013) (REUTERS) -  The northeastern United States braced for a possibly historic blizzard that could drop up to three feet (nearly one meter) of snow from Friday to Saturday and bring travel to a halt.

Airlines have canceled more than 3,000 flights for Friday (February 8), according to website FlightAware.com, with the largest number of cancellations at airports in Newark,New Jersey; New York City; Chicago and Boston.Another 881 flights were canceled for Saturday, according to the flight-tracking site.

At New York's Laguardia Airport, departure screens told the depressing story the storm was having on air travel, with canceled flights appearing to far outnumber those still listed as going.

For Sheldon Hamilton, he took the news in stride that his trip back to Toronto would be delayed by a day, at the least.

"There's no point in letting my blood pressure rise over something like this. Just got to roll with it. New York is not the worse place in the world to be stuck for a day."

Vladimir Zavidovych was hoping to make it to return to North Carolina, but was told he would have to rebook a flight for Saturday (February 9).

"I'm not quite sure when the next one is going to be. So I'm just going to have to see what happens," he said.

For Tammy Morland, also bound for Toronto, the day has been an adventure so far, with no good news yet is sight.

"I was in the other airport, JFK (John F. Kennedy International Airport), they re-booked me and sent me over here. I got here and now they said this one's canceled. So now they have me booked for a flight tomorrow night if flights are going. And so now I don't know where I'm going, a hotel maybe."

But not all travelers were singing the aviation blues. Some voiced confidence they would be sleeping in their own beds tonight.

"Right now it says my flight's on time and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my flight will go," said Indiana-bound Nicki Tesh.

"I got lucky today," said Tim Dubbet, bound for sunny Florida. "I booked a flight that was the flight before they all got canceled, so wonderful. Unless the weather changes, I'll be on the flight tonight."

Blizzard warnings were in effect from New Jersey through southern Maine, with Bostonexpected to bear the brunt of the storm, named 'Nemo' by the Weather Channel which started naming winter storms this year. The day began with light snow and winds that were due to pick up with much heavier snowfall by afternoon.

Officials urged residents to stay home, rather than risk getting stuck in deep drifts or whiteout conditions.

Officials across the region ordered nonessential government workers to stay home, urged private employers to do the same, and told people to prepare for power outages and encouraged them to check on elderly or disabled neighbors.

In New York City, still not fully recovered from the effects of October's devastating Hurricane Sandy, officials said they had 1,800 Sanitation Department trucks equipped with snow plows ready to be deployed.

Officials across the region ordered nonessential government workers to stay home, urged private employers to do the same, and told people to prepare for power outages and encouraged them to check on elderly or disabled neighbors.