Travelers moving through San Francisco International Airport on February 16, 2026 are facing a day of major disruption, with hundreds of flights delayed or canceled as storms sweep across California and trigger cascading impacts across the national air network. From weather-driven ground delays to staffing strains and tight aircraft rotations, the problems at SFO are rippling far beyond the Bay Area and forcing passengers to rapidly rethink their plans.
What Is Happening at SFO Right Now
San Francisco International Airport has been operating under a ground delay program for much of Monday after low clouds, rain and blustery winds reduced the number of aircraft that can safely arrive and depart each hour. Federal Aviation Administration advisories early in the day cited low ceilings and wet conditions, with average inbound delays initially hovering around half an hour but stretching far longer for some flights as airlines struggled to reset their schedules.
By midday, tracking services were reporting well over 200 delayed flights and a growing wave of cancellations tied to the weather system affecting much of coastal California. The travel industry outlet Travel and Tour World reported that SFO logged roughly 269 delays and at least 15 outright cancellations on February 16 alone, a figure that is continuing to evolve as airlines trim schedules and consolidate lightly booked departures. Many of those disruptions involve transcontinental and international services that require precise timing to connect crews and aircraft on multi-leg journeys.
Passengers arriving into the Bay Area from other parts of the United States have been warned to expect rolling departure holds from their origin airport, extended gate waits after landing, and longer taxi times as the airfield works through a backlog of arrivals. On the departures side, security queues and boarding times are slightly slower than usual as airlines juggle late-arriving crews and aircraft swaps to keep as many flights as possible operating, albeit behind schedule.
Storm System Behind the Disruptions
The immediate cause of SFO’s latest wave of delays is a powerful Pacific storm now moving across California, bringing bands of heavy rain, gusty winds and the possibility of localized flooding. Bay Area meteorologists have described this as a moderate but impactful winter system, with a Level 2 storm designation in local forecasts, strong enough to trigger scattered power outages, hazardous driving conditions and intermittent coastal flooding in low-lying communities.
At the airport, the concern is less about dramatic rainfall totals and more about the combination of shifting winds and low clouds, which constrain visibility and complicate aircraft approaches to SFO’s closely spaced parallel runways. Even modest changes in wind direction can force controllers to adjust runway configurations, spacing out arrivals and departures to maintain safe separation. When that happens, the airport’s effective capacity drops, and any peak wave of flights can quickly overwhelm the system.
This latest storm comes on the heels of several weeks of volatile weather in the western United States, including a series of January and early February systems that battered coastal California and the Sierra Nevada with high winds and heavy snow. While the bomb cyclone that struck the East Coast earlier this month had its most serious impacts thousands of miles away from the Bay Area, its knock-on effects on aircraft rotations, crew availability and maintenance schedules have left many carriers with less margin when a new local storm arrives.
How Bad Are the Delays and Cancellations
By early afternoon on Monday, average delay times for arriving flights to SFO were still being officially listed in the range of 30 to 60 minutes, but that headline figure conceals a far more uneven picture on the ground. Some short-haul regional services from within California and neighboring states have been operating only slightly behind schedule, while long-haul flights from the East Coast, Hawaii and international gateways are often running two hours or more late as they wait for slots to land or depart.
Travel and Tour World’s snapshot of SFO operations on February 16 pointed to 269 delayed flights and 15 cancellations. Compared with last month’s wind-driven disruption that saw more than 270 delays and around 20 cancellations in a single day, this latest episode is roughly on par in terms of scale, but the timing and pattern of the delays are different. Instead of a sharp spike concentrated in a few hours around the windiest conditions, Monday’s problems are unfolding as a slow, grinding backlog that bleeds across the entire day’s schedule.
One complicating factor is that San Francisco is a major connecting hub for several domestic and international airlines. When an early morning bank of arrivals misses its planned connection window by an hour or more, the misalignment cascades into mid-morning and afternoon departures. Aircraft that should have turned around and flown to other destinations remain parked at the gate, waiting for late passengers and crew, while flights planned for those later legs are delayed or canceled entirely.
Which Travelers Are Most Affected
Travelers flying to or from the West Coast on Monday are bearing the brunt of the disruptions, especially those with tight layovers involving San Francisco. Passengers connecting between transpacific services and domestic routes are particularly vulnerable, as a late arrival from Asia or Australia can easily push travelers past the departure time of their onward flight and strain rebooking options on already crowded routes.
Bay Area residents departing on short-haul flights to other California airports or to nearby states such as Oregon, Nevada and Arizona may find some of those services still operating, but often on modified timetables. Early morning departures have faced the most acute delays as the ground delay program restricted arrivals and departures in the first part of the day. Travelers on midday and evening flights may instead experience more moderate delays, but they are also more exposed to knock-on effects if inbound aircraft are stuck elsewhere in the system.
Business travelers with same-day round-trip plans are among those hardest hit, as even an hour of extra waiting time can render a short out-and-back trip impractical. Families and leisure travelers heading into the Presidents Day holiday period are encountering crowded terminals and gate areas, with many rebooked onto later flights that are already nearing capacity. For those traveling with young children or elderly relatives, the lack of reliable information about revised departure times and gate changes can add stress to an already difficult day.
What Passengers Should Do Before Leaving for the Airport
With conditions at SFO changing hour by hour, travelers are being urged to take a more cautious and proactive approach before leaving for the airport. The single most important step is to check the status of your flight directly with your airline’s official app or customer service channels, rather than relying solely on generic airport displays or third-party travel sites that may lag behind real-time operational decisions.
Experts advise that passengers heading to SFO on February 16 should allow extra time not just for weather-impacted roads and public transit but also for longer check-in and security lines. Even if your specific flight is operating close to schedule, the overall stress on the system means it may take longer to drop off bags, clear security and reach your gate. Travelers should also enroll in text or app notifications from their airline, which can provide immediate updates on gate changes, rolling delays or aircraft substitutions.
For those with flexible travel plans, it may be worth exploring whether airlines are offering change-fee waivers for flights touching San Francisco or other affected West Coast airports. During significant weather events, many carriers allow customers to shift their journeys to another day or even reroute through less affected hubs, subject to seat availability. Calling an airline’s customer service line, using the live chat in its app or reaching out via social channels can sometimes produce faster rebooking options than waiting in a long line at the airport counter.
Options if Your Flight Is Delayed or Canceled
Passengers whose flights are severely delayed or canceled altogether have a few key decisions to make. The first is whether it remains realistic to complete the trip on the same day or whether an overnight stay near the airport is more prudent. If your onward itinerary includes a crucial connection, such as an international long-haul flight or a cruise departure, a multi-hour delay can quickly render your original plans unworkable, and rebooking to a later date may be the safer choice.
Airlines are generally responsible for rebooking passengers on the next available flight when a cancellation occurs, but they may prioritize frequent flyers and customers with premium tickets, especially when seats are scarce. Travelers should be prepared to advocate for themselves, politely but firmly, and to ask agents to consider alternative routings via other hubs such as Los Angeles, Seattle or Denver. In some cases, splitting a party on separate flights may get at least some members of a group to their destination sooner.
In the United States, airlines are not legally required to provide hotel accommodations or meal vouchers when cancellations are caused by weather, but many carriers have internal policies to assist passengers on a case-by-case basis. Travelers should ask whether any goodwill gestures are available, such as food credits, lounge access or discounted hotel rates. Those flying to or from Europe, or on European carriers, may have additional protections and potential compensation under European consumer regulations, particularly when delays exceed several hours and are not purely the result of extraordinary circumstances.
Understanding Your Rights and Setting Expectations
One of the recurring frustrations for air travelers during weather disruptions is understanding what they are entitled to receive from airlines and what remains outside the carrier’s control. In the case of Monday’s SFO disruptions, most of the problems stem from weather-related air traffic control restrictions and safety-driven capacity cuts, which airlines argue fall under the category of extraordinary circumstances. That typically limits financial compensation but does not absolve carriers from basic obligations, such as transporting passengers to their final destination as soon as reasonably possible.
Passengers should familiarize themselves with the specific conditions of carriage for their airline, which spell out policies on rebooking, refunds and assistance during irregular operations. In many cases, if a flight is canceled, customers can request a full refund rather than accepting an alternative itinerary, even when the cause is weather. For significant delays, some airlines may also allow voluntary refunds or credits if the revised schedule no longer works, especially for non-essential travel.
Travel insurance, whether purchased separately or included as a benefit through a credit card, can provide an additional layer of protection. Policies vary widely, but many offer reimbursement for extra hotel nights, meals and transportation costs when trips are disrupted by covered weather events. Travelers should keep all receipts and document communications with airlines and airports, as insurers often require proof of the delay or cancellation and evidence of reasonable efforts to complete the journey.
Why SFO Is Especially Vulnerable to Disruptions
While every major airport contends with weather-related disruption, San Francisco International is particularly vulnerable because of its geography, runway layout and role within airline networks. The airport sits on the edge of San Francisco Bay, exposed to shifting marine layers, coastal fog and gusty winds that can force rapid changes in runway use and instrument approach procedures. The close spacing of its primary parallel runways, which allows for high capacity in good weather, becomes a liability when visibility is reduced and aircraft must be spaced farther apart for safety.
Federal statistics show that SFO consistently ranks among the nation’s airports with the highest proportion of delayed and canceled flights, reflecting a combination of weather, congestion and operational complexity. Carriers schedule dense banks of arrivals and departures to maximize connections, leaving little slack in the system when something goes wrong. A single round of delays during the morning rush can reverberate into the evening, particularly when airlines are already coping with national challenges such as air traffic controller shortages and tight aircraft availability.
For travelers, that means building more resilience into any itinerary that relies on San Francisco as a connecting point, especially during the stormy winter months. Allowing longer layovers, avoiding last-flight-of-the-day options on critical routes and keeping an eye on forecasts in the days before departure can make the difference between an inconvenient delay and a completely derailed trip. As Monday’s disruptions show, even a moderate storm can be enough to push SFO’s finely balanced operation into significant disorder, with consequences felt by travelers across the country and beyond.