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CNN Live At Daybreak

Interview with Rally Caparas

Aired December 05, 2002 - 05:03   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: As we said, North Carolina has been hit with a wintry mix of snow, ice, sleet and freezing rain. For a check on what conditions are like right now in Charlotte, we turn to CNN's Fredricka Whitfield -- good morning, Fredricka.
Oh, it looks nasty.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, it is very nasty. This is the first major winter storm of the season making its way from Oklahoma, as you say, Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky and now in the Carolinas. And this is what it looks like here in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is wet, it is nasty, it's miserable. And what folks are going to be waking up to today, they're going to see about a half inch coating of ice on the trees and on the shrubs around me. But for the most part, they're not going to see a whole lot of that icy buildup on the roads and highways because emergency crews are saying the good news so far, despite the freezing temperatures overnight, it appears as though their work done overnight of spreading sand and a salt mixture seemed to work because the ice didn't seem to stick to the major thoroughfares.

However, there is a bit of slushy condition here and there on some of the bridges and overpasses. If you look right over here to my right, you'll see that the overpasses here do look a little treacherous but for the most part that seems to be the worst in terms of on the roadways. They are, for the most part, passable. You're seeing some emergency crews making their way across the bridge right now.

We are still seeing occasional fire trucks and emergency vehicles making their way through the neighborhood because the major problem seems to be some power outages. About 100,000 customers in the North and South Carolina region are without power, and those numbers as of nine o'clock last night right here in Charlotte, North Carolina, only about 2,200 people without power and crews are working hard to try and restore that power. Overnight, they also tried to clip some of the branches and the tree limbs so as to avert any major limbs coming down on those power lines. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't quite. We still have about 2,200 people in the Charlotte area without power.

It seems like the brunt of the storm has hit further north. In the mountains they're experiencing between three and five inches of snow and so far forecasters are saying this area just might be close to being out of the woods because the winter storm advisory is going to be lifted about 10:00 a.m. and the temperatures are expected to rise. However, Carol, if any of you are planning to travel in and out of the North Carolina region, you may want to check on your flights, because as of now, there are no major cancellations, but anything could happen this morning -- Carol, back to you.

COSTELLO: Oh, I'd ask you a question, but I'd feel too mean because you look really cold.

Thank you, Fredricka.

We'll get back to you at the half hour.

WHITFIELD: All right.

COSTELLO: When a snow or ice storm strikes, it's bound to cause airline delays, just like Fredricka said, and not just in the area affected by weather.

Rally Caparas is the air traffic expert at Travelocity.com and he's here this morning to tell us what travelers can expect today.

Nothing good, I'll bet.

RALLY CAPARAS, TRAVELOCITY.COM: You're right, Carol.

Well, as Fredricka was telling us just a moment ago, I'm going to show you a picture of where this weather is and how it relates to the airplanes. I'm looking at about 700 airplanes this morning already, and that'll build consistently to about 3,000 to 4,000 airplanes any time that I look at this software program that I'll be showing you.

If you take a look at it, you can see where the traffic is actually concentrated, and it's moving up into the Northeast. The blue shaded areas are obviously the weather, the more significant weather. The pink is ice and snow and rain. And then the green is going to be rain.

Here's how it's going to affect travel for today. Boston Logan Airport is delay free to start the day. However, later in the afternoon and evening, you will start to experience 30 to 45 minute arrival and departure delays as low clouds, rain, snow and departure flight deicing will be necessary.

As we move down the coast just a bit, at LaGuardia, JFK and Newark Liberty Airports, you will also see some lengthy delays there, 45 to 60 minute arrival and departure delays. That's going to begin later this morning and it will continue on into the late evening hours. So be prepared, grab some coffee and a crossword puzzle or two.

Down in the D.C. metropolitan area, they will see similar conditions and similar delays. Let's throw Philadelphia into the mix there, 60 minute arrival and departure delays, low clouds, light snow and departure flight deicing will take place there.

Down in the Carolinas, Raleigh-Durham, Charlotte and let's add Atlanta into that, as we're on the trailing edge of this storm at the moment, 45 to 60 minute arrival and departure delays, low clouds, rain, snow, departure flight deicing for the first part of the day. It should be clearing from Atlanta and possibly Charlotte right around the early afternoon hours and they should have on time schedules thereafter.

On the Great Lakes region, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Cleveland will see 30 to 45 minute arrival and departure delays for most of the day. Departure flight deicing, some light snow, lake effect snow off of Erie there. And then finally out West, at Seattle/Tacoma Airport, you will see your typical marine layer of fog roll in, 30 minute arrival delays will ensue, last until about 12:00 noon Pacific Time, roll out again for on time schedules thereafter.

I will be back with more from Travelocity's eye on the sky in 30 minutes -- Carol, back to you.

COSTELLO: Oh, you're a busy guy this morning.

CAPARAS: Yes, ma'am.

COSTELLO: Thanks, Rally.

And just a reminder, you can check your hometown forecast and the forecast for thousands of cities around the globe on our Web site at cnn.com/weather.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired December 5, 2002 - 05:03   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: As we said, North Carolina has been hit with a wintry mix of snow, ice, sleet and freezing rain. For a check on what conditions are like right now in Charlotte, we turn to CNN's Fredricka Whitfield -- good morning, Fredricka.
Oh, it looks nasty.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, it is very nasty. This is the first major winter storm of the season making its way from Oklahoma, as you say, Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky and now in the Carolinas. And this is what it looks like here in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is wet, it is nasty, it's miserable. And what folks are going to be waking up to today, they're going to see about a half inch coating of ice on the trees and on the shrubs around me. But for the most part, they're not going to see a whole lot of that icy buildup on the roads and highways because emergency crews are saying the good news so far, despite the freezing temperatures overnight, it appears as though their work done overnight of spreading sand and a salt mixture seemed to work because the ice didn't seem to stick to the major thoroughfares.

However, there is a bit of slushy condition here and there on some of the bridges and overpasses. If you look right over here to my right, you'll see that the overpasses here do look a little treacherous but for the most part that seems to be the worst in terms of on the roadways. They are, for the most part, passable. You're seeing some emergency crews making their way across the bridge right now.

We are still seeing occasional fire trucks and emergency vehicles making their way through the neighborhood because the major problem seems to be some power outages. About 100,000 customers in the North and South Carolina region are without power, and those numbers as of nine o'clock last night right here in Charlotte, North Carolina, only about 2,200 people without power and crews are working hard to try and restore that power. Overnight, they also tried to clip some of the branches and the tree limbs so as to avert any major limbs coming down on those power lines. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't quite. We still have about 2,200 people in the Charlotte area without power.

It seems like the brunt of the storm has hit further north. In the mountains they're experiencing between three and five inches of snow and so far forecasters are saying this area just might be close to being out of the woods because the winter storm advisory is going to be lifted about 10:00 a.m. and the temperatures are expected to rise. However, Carol, if any of you are planning to travel in and out of the North Carolina region, you may want to check on your flights, because as of now, there are no major cancellations, but anything could happen this morning -- Carol, back to you.

COSTELLO: Oh, I'd ask you a question, but I'd feel too mean because you look really cold.

Thank you, Fredricka.

We'll get back to you at the half hour.

WHITFIELD: All right.

COSTELLO: When a snow or ice storm strikes, it's bound to cause airline delays, just like Fredricka said, and not just in the area affected by weather.

Rally Caparas is the air traffic expert at Travelocity.com and he's here this morning to tell us what travelers can expect today.

Nothing good, I'll bet.

RALLY CAPARAS, TRAVELOCITY.COM: You're right, Carol.

Well, as Fredricka was telling us just a moment ago, I'm going to show you a picture of where this weather is and how it relates to the airplanes. I'm looking at about 700 airplanes this morning already, and that'll build consistently to about 3,000 to 4,000 airplanes any time that I look at this software program that I'll be showing you.

If you take a look at it, you can see where the traffic is actually concentrated, and it's moving up into the Northeast. The blue shaded areas are obviously the weather, the more significant weather. The pink is ice and snow and rain. And then the green is going to be rain.

Here's how it's going to affect travel for today. Boston Logan Airport is delay free to start the day. However, later in the afternoon and evening, you will start to experience 30 to 45 minute arrival and departure delays as low clouds, rain, snow and departure flight deicing will be necessary.

As we move down the coast just a bit, at LaGuardia, JFK and Newark Liberty Airports, you will also see some lengthy delays there, 45 to 60 minute arrival and departure delays. That's going to begin later this morning and it will continue on into the late evening hours. So be prepared, grab some coffee and a crossword puzzle or two.

Down in the D.C. metropolitan area, they will see similar conditions and similar delays. Let's throw Philadelphia into the mix there, 60 minute arrival and departure delays, low clouds, light snow and departure flight deicing will take place there.

Down in the Carolinas, Raleigh-Durham, Charlotte and let's add Atlanta into that, as we're on the trailing edge of this storm at the moment, 45 to 60 minute arrival and departure delays, low clouds, rain, snow, departure flight deicing for the first part of the day. It should be clearing from Atlanta and possibly Charlotte right around the early afternoon hours and they should have on time schedules thereafter.

On the Great Lakes region, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Cleveland will see 30 to 45 minute arrival and departure delays for most of the day. Departure flight deicing, some light snow, lake effect snow off of Erie there. And then finally out West, at Seattle/Tacoma Airport, you will see your typical marine layer of fog roll in, 30 minute arrival delays will ensue, last until about 12:00 noon Pacific Time, roll out again for on time schedules thereafter.

I will be back with more from Travelocity's eye on the sky in 30 minutes -- Carol, back to you.

COSTELLO: Oh, you're a busy guy this morning.

CAPARAS: Yes, ma'am.

COSTELLO: Thanks, Rally.

And just a reminder, you can check your hometown forecast and the forecast for thousands of cities around the globe on our Web site at cnn.com/weather.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com