Ground stop at Denver (DEN), Oct 23, 2026

EndedStrong winds halt Denver departures for 53 minutes

Started: Fri, Oct 23, 10:34 AM MDT16:34 UTC
Ended: Fri, Oct 23, 11:27 AM MDT17:27 UTC
Duration: 53 min
Cause: wind

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What happened

AI-written · may contain mistakes. Written from the advisory text and weather only.

Cause: Strong winds at Denver led air traffic control to hold departures bound there, since arriving planes were bunching up and needed room to land safely.

The ground stop at Denver began at 16:34 UTC on October 23, 2026, and was scheduled to run until 17:45 UTC. It ended early at 17:27 UTC, after 53 minutes. Departures were held from six air traffic control centers, and the advisory listed a medium chance of extension.

Impact by airline

Aircraft seen on the ground at DEN and holding nearby, by airline.

Airline	On ground	Holding
Southwest Airlines WN	16	—
Frontier Airlines F9	6	—
United Airlines UA	5	—
Air Canada AC	2	—
SkyWest Airlines OO	2	—
American Airlines AA	1	—

Impact by region

Air traffic control centers whose departures to the airport were held.

Center	Status
Albuquerque Center (ZAB)	Held
Denver Center (ZDV)	Held
Kansas City Center (ZKC)	Held
Los Angeles Center (ZLA)	Held
Salt Lake City Center (ZLC)	Held
Minneapolis Center (ZMP)	Held

Timeline

Every change published while the ground stop was in effect, as seen each minute.

Oct 23, 10:34 AM MDT
Ground stop issued at DEN for wind, until 11:45 am MDT. Departures held from ZLA, ZLC, ZDV, ZKC and 2 more.
Oct 23, 11:27 AM MDT
Ground stop ended after 53 min.

Advisories

The air traffic control advisories issued for this ground stop, as published.

ATCSCC ADVZY 064 DEN/ZDV 10/23/2026 CDM GROUND STOP

CTL ELEMENT: DEN
ELEMENT TYPE: APT
ADL TIME: 1630Z
GROUND STOP PERIOD: 23/1630Z - 23/1745Z
DEP FACILITIES INCLUDED: (1stTier) ZLA ZLC ZDV ZKC ZAB ZMP
PREVIOUS TOTAL, MAXIMUM, AVERAGE DELAYS: 0 / 0 / 0
NEW TOTAL, MAXIMUM, AVERAGE DELAYS: 2376 / 76 / 46
PROBABILITY OF EXTENSION: MEDIUM
IMPACTING CONDITION: WEATHER / WIND
COMMENTS: COMPRESSION ON FINAL AND COMPACTED DEMAND

Original advisory ↗

How it is measured

Status, timeline, cause and held centers: the national airspace status feed, checked every minute, and the air traffic control advisories it links to.
Delays by airline and region: departures and arrivals at DEN 30 or more minutes late, by their estimated delay against the schedule, sampled every 10 minutes while the stop is active and once more after it ends.
Totals and cancellations: arrival and departure boards for DEN, every 30 minutes while active and once more after the end. Delayed means 15 or more minutes late at DEN; cancelled is the airline's cancelled status; codeshares count once. Flights scheduled from the start until an hour after the end are counted.
Held at origin: the same arrivals boards, which carry each flight's scheduled and actual departure from its origin. A flight is held when it is still scheduled, not departed, 15 or more minutes past its scheduled departure at a sample taken during the stop. In scope: its origin is in a held center or listed facility; flights from elsewhere are late for other reasons.
Inbound in the air: the same arrivals boards. At each board taken during the stop, a flight to DEN is in the air when it has departed (en route, or with an actual departure time) and not landed, cancelled or diverted; one still shown in the air over an hour past its arrival estimate, or departed more than 18 hours earlier, is treated as stale and left out.
Diversions: an inbound flight marked diverted during the stop or the wrap-up after it (not one marked before it could have departed), or one still shown in the air 30+ minutes past its arrival estimate that ADS-B (by its ICAO call sign) then found on the ground at another airport, not its origin. The diversion airport is the airport ADS-B found it at, else the updated destination. Cancellations never count. Regional flights flown under another call sign can't be found on ADS-B, so their diversion airport may be unknown.
Aircraft on the ground and holding: ADS-B positions around DEN, every 5 minutes; the airline is read from the call sign. Holding counts airline flights only (passenger, regional and cargo), not private, military or medical flights.
Weather: METARs, SIGMETs and weather alerts.
News: headline links filtered to this airport and these days; we show titles and links only.

Data sources are listed on the credits page.