Hundreds of delayed flights make travel tough at TIA

TAMPA (FOX 13) - We may have enjoyed 80-degree temperatures though out the Bay Area this weekend, but the rest of the country hasn't fared so well in the weather department. Now Florida travelers are starting to feel the freeze at the airport.

Hundreds of flights in and out of Tampa International Airport were delayed or canceled this weekend after sleet and snow blanketed several major cities across the country. Airports in Denver, Chicago, New York, Houston, Washington, DC and Atlanta were some of the hardest hit and that's having a trickle down effect on the Sunshine State.

"We got an alert on the way to [TIA] and it said 'postponed from 5:50 to 6:10, we just didn't realize 6:10 was 6:10 p.m." said Scott Coletti, whose early morning flight to Chicago was delayed 12, then eventually 15 hours on Sunday.

The Coletti family expected to spend their Sunday evening bundled up by a fire in a slope-side Montana cabin.

Instead, they'll spend it on a redeye flight to L.A., where they'll finally catch a flight to Bozeman Monday morning. 

"They've never been to L.A. so now we get to go," Scott Coletti said of his wife and five kids. "It's all good. We can't control the weather so we'll just control what we can. We'll miss a day skiing but we'll still have four more days, so we're looking forward to it."

Passengers this week will need a little extra patience as airports scramble to catch up with cancelations and growing numbers of holiday travelers. Airlines recommend arriving at the airport two hours before scheduled departure times and checking the flight status before heading out the door.