Ground stop at Philadelphia (PHL), Nov 12, 2026

EndedThunderstorms halt Philadelphia departures for just over three hours

Started: Thu, Nov 12, 1:06 PM EST18:06 UTC
Ended: Thu, Nov 12, 4:11 PM EST21:11 UTC
Duration: 3 hr 5 min
Cause: thunderstorms; Extended 2 times

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What happened

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

Cause: Thunderstorms near Philadelphia airport caused the stop, with a tornado watch, flash flood warnings, and a storm advisory covering the area.

A ground stop at Philadelphia airport (PHL) began at 18:06 UTC on November 12, 2026, holding departures because of thunderstorms. It was extended twice, first to 3:15 pm EST and then to 4:15 pm EST, and widened to cover more air traffic control centers. The ground stop ended at 21:11 UTC, after 3 hours 5 minutes.

Impact by airline

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

Airline numbers appear after the first sample, within about 20 minutes of the start.

Impact by region

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

Center	Status
Chicago Center (ZAU)	Held
Boston Center (ZBW)	Held
Washington Center (ZDC)	Held
Indianapolis Center (ZID)	Held
Jacksonville Center (ZJX)	Held
Miami Center (ZMA)	Held
Minneapolis Center (ZMP)	Held
New York Center (ZNY)	Held
Cleveland Center (ZOB)	Held
Atlanta Center (ZTL)	Held

Aircraft at the airport

Peak 0 on the ground, 0 holding nearby.

On the ground Holding nearby

Timeline

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

Nov 12, 1:06 PM EST
Ground stop issued at PHL for thunderstorms, until 2:15 pm EST.
Nov 12, 1:08 PM EST
Reason changed to thunderstorms.
Nov 12, 1:08 PM EST
Chance of extension now medium.
Nov 12, 1:08 PM EST
Departures held from ZTL, ZDC, ZNY, ZJX and 2 more.
Nov 12, 2:07 PM EST
Extended until 3:15 pm EST.
Nov 12, 2:07 PM EST
New advisory issued.
Read the advisory ↗
Nov 12, 3:02 PM EST
Extended until 4:15 pm EST.
Nov 12, 3:02 PM EST
Scope widened: departures now also held from ZAU, ZID, ZMP, ZMA.
Nov 12, 3:02 PM EST
New advisory issued.
Read the advisory ↗
Nov 12, 4:11 PM EST
Ground stop ended after 3 hr 5 min.

Advisories

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

ATCSCC ADVZY 093 PHL/ZNY 11/12/2026 CDM GROUND STOP

CTL ELEMENT: PHL
ELEMENT TYPE: APT
ADL TIME: 1955Z
GROUND STOP PERIOD: 12/1940Z - 12/2115Z
DEP FACILITIES INCLUDED: (Manual) ZAU ZTL ZDC ZNY ZJX ZOB ZBW ZID ZMP
 ZMA  CYHZ CYOW CYUL CYYZ CYTZ CYQB
PREVIOUS TOTAL, MAXIMUM, AVERAGE DELAYS: 1201 / 132 / 23
NEW TOTAL, MAXIMUM, AVERAGE DELAYS: 3543 / 192 / 67
PROBABILITY OF EXTENSION: MEDIUM
IMPACTING CONDITION: WEATHER / THUNDERSTORMS
COMMENTS: EXTENDED AND EXPANDED TO 2ND TIER + CZY AND ZMA, EXPECTING
 SURFACE ISSUES DUE TO HAIL INSPECTIONS.

Original advisory ↗

ATCSCC ADVZY 080 PHL/ZNY 11/12/2026 CDM GROUND STOP

CTL ELEMENT: PHL
ELEMENT TYPE: APT
ADL TIME: 1901Z
GROUND STOP PERIOD: 12/1752Z - 12/2015Z
DEP FACILITIES INCLUDED: (Manual) ZTL ZDC ZNY ZJX ZOB ZBW  CYHZ CYOW
 CYUL CYYZ CYTZ CYQB
PREVIOUS TOTAL, MAXIMUM, AVERAGE DELAYS: 512 / 72 / 18
NEW TOTAL, MAXIMUM, AVERAGE DELAYS: 1712 / 138 / 59
PROBABILITY OF EXTENSION: MEDIUM
IMPACTING CONDITION: WEATHER / THUNDERSTORMS
COMMENTS: EXPECTING WEATHER ON NE SIDE OF PHL APPROX 2030Z

Original advisory ↗

ATCSCC ADVZY 066 PHL/ZNY 11/12/2026 CDM GROUND STOP

CTL ELEMENT: PHL
ELEMENT TYPE: APT
ADL TIME: 1802Z
GROUND STOP PERIOD: 12/1752Z - 12/1915Z
DEP FACILITIES INCLUDED: (Manual) ZTL ZDC ZNY ZJX ZOB ZBW  CYHZ CYOW
 CYUL CYYZ CYTZ CYQB
PREVIOUS TOTAL, MAXIMUM, AVERAGE DELAYS: 0 / 0 / 0
NEW TOTAL, MAXIMUM, AVERAGE DELAYS: 782 / 77 / 41
PROBABILITY OF EXTENSION: MEDIUM
IMPACTING CONDITION: WEATHER / THUNDERSTORMS
COMMENTS:

Original advisory ↗

Where flights were held

Departures to PHL were held from 10 centers (Manual).

Chance of extension: MEDIUM

Weather at the time

METAR, weather alerts and SIGMETs at the airport during the stop.

When it started

VFR

METAR KPHL 121754Z 12012KT 10SM FEW025 BKN070 BKN120 BKN200 17/13 A2938 RMK AO2 RAE33 PRESFR SLP950 CB DSNT SW MOV NE VCSH P0000 60001 T01720133 10172 20128 58051 $ · observed Nov 12, 12:54 PM EST

Tornado Watch · Tornado Watch issued November 12 at 12:50PM EST until November 12 at 7:00PM EST by NWS Mount Holly NJ

Over the airport: Convective SIGMET 58E.

Latest during the stop

VFR

METAR KPHL 122054Z 32003KT 10SM FEW015 SCT038 BKN085 BKN200 16/12 A2937 RMK AO2 WSHFT 1941 RAE13GRE02 TSE40 SLP944 P0015 60051 T01560117 55006 $ · observed Nov 12, 3:54 PM EST

Tornado Watch · Tornado Watch issued November 12 at 3:27PM EST until November 12 at 7:00PM EST by NWS Mount Holly NJ
Flash Flood Warning · Flash Flood Warning issued November 12 at 3:27PM EST until November 12 at 7:30PM EST by NWS Mount Holly NJ
Flash Flood Warning · Flash Flood Warning issued November 12 at 3:01PM EST until November 12 at 7:00PM EST by NWS Mount Holly NJ
Flash Flood Warning · Flash Flood Warning issued November 12 at 2:45PM EST until November 12 at 6:45PM EST by NWS Mount Holly NJ

Over the airport: Convective SIGMET 70E.

Philadelphia (PHL) live status →Every ground stop at PHL →Replay Nov 12, 2026 on the map →Read the full advisory ↗What is a ground stop? →

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 PHL 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 PHL, every 30 minutes while active and once more after the end. Delayed means 15 or more minutes late at PHL; 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 PHL 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 PHL, 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.