Hail storm causes major delays at Denver International Airport

Large pieces of hail fell for about 15 minutes at the Denver International Airport on Wednesday night, damaging 40 planes. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

NBC News

A hail storm has damaged planes and snarled traffic at Denver International Airport, reports NBC News' Tom Costello.

The storm, which swept through the area late Wednesday evening, reportedly dumped three quarters of an inch of hail in 15 minutes. Approximately 1,000 people spent the night at the airport due to flight cancellations. The airlines did not request that the airport enact its stranded passenger plan, leaving fliers to spend the night without blankets or cots.

Delays reached nearly an hour on Wednesday night, and the effects are expected to ripple into Thursday morning's flights as carriers perform safety and maintenance checks on their planes. Forty aircraft were damaged in the storm, according to Laura Coale, a spokesperson for the airport.

Frontier Airlines, which has a hub in Denver, expected more cancellations on Friday.

“The full impact of the damage became apparent in the light of day this morning,” said Cliff Van Leuven, Frontier's vice president of customer service. “As we inspected our aircraft, we found several of them damaged to the point of no longer being able to fly until repairs are made.”

Frontier Airlines customers can check their flight status at http://www.frontierairlines.com/.

Delta, Southwest and American reported on-time departures this morning, according to spokespeople at those carriers.

Mike Trevino, a spokesperson for United Airlines, said the carrier cancelled 30 departures this morning. The airline is still inspecting its aircraft for damage. Trevino said that many of the affected passengers have been rebooked. He expects delays related to the storm to be resolved by Friday afternoon.

The storm was the latest in a wetter-than-normal month. The Denver Post reports that the city's weather monitor, which is stationed at the airport, recorded 2.12 inches of rain for the month by July 12th. The average for mid-July is .80 inches.

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