Handful of flights canceled in Palm Springs due to Pacific storm

A strong Pacific storm Friday prompted a handful of flight cancellations and delays at Palm Springs International Airport, mostly regarding arrivals and departures to and from San Francisco, joining numerous
other cancellations at airports across Southern California.

Many of the cancellations regionally have come from Southwest Airlines flights, which does not serve the Palm Springs Airport.

Five flights to and from San Francisco International Airport were canceled Friday, along with more than 20 delayed flights, also mostly departing and arriving in San Francisco, according to the flightstats.com website.

The Federal Aviation Administration said weather conditions are causing some arriving flights at San Francisco International Airport to be delayed by an average of more than three hours. The Coachella Valley was expected to get a heavy dose of rainfall and wind starting tonight through Saturday.

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood and high wind warning for the city of Riverside, the surrounding valleys, the Coachella Valley and the San Gorgonio Pass zone, including the cities of Banning and Desert Hot Springs.

Delays involving about 400 arriving flights at LAX and 200 departing flights were reported Friday by flightstats.com. Of those flights, three flights arriving at LAX from San Francisco were canceled and nine were delayed.

Four flights from LAX to San Francisco were canceled and 15 were delayed.

In Orange County, the storm forced cancellations of multiple flights at John Wayne Airport with American Airlines stopping all of its takeoffs and arrivals until 7:30 p.m.

Southwest Airlines has called a halt to most of Friday’s flights, airport spokeswoman Deanne Thompson said.