JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The weather outside is frightful in a lot of places across the U.S., which means folks at Jacksonville International Airport are having to tweak their holiday plans on the fly.
According to FlightAware, Jacksonville International Airport had 60 delays and 20 cancelled flights today.
"I came for a week because my son had his 40th birthday, so I wanted to be with him on his birthday as much as Christmas," said Sandra Cantrell, whose flight was canceled.
Cantrell's week-long birthday vacation from Oakland will last a little longer than she expected.
Her flight was cancelled because of the weather in Houston, where she had a connecting flight.
After spending five hours at the airport, she wound up having to go right back to her son's place.
"Better to be stranded here than there," said Cantrell. "Just looking for the positives in it all."
She's not the only one getting to spend a little extra time with a family member - Tyler Soto couldn't catch his flight to Nashville because of the weather.
So, he'll spend Christmas morning with his dad in Jacksonville, and hope he can catch his evening flight to make it for Christmas night with his mom in Nashville, where they'll be some Christmas dinner leftovers waiting for him.
"It's never been like this, but at least I still get to see my people," said Soto. "I'm not really that mad about it. Hopefully it's not all gone before I get there."
Passengers cancelled, delayed - but still entertained.
Airport Musician Randell Briggs kept filling the airport with holiday tunes through it all.
"People staying around, and some of them have attitudes, they're kind of upset," said Briggs. "I pick up on that, and I can look at the people to figure out what kind of music they like. Then I'll play something they like."
Both Cantrell and Soto are optimistic they'll be able to catch their Christmas day flights now, and that their families will be willing to expand their Christmas celebrations just a bit this year to include them.