The Thanksgiving holiday got off to a slow start for thousands of travelers in the Bay area.
Many passengers at Tampa International Airport faced flight delays because of the winter storm in the Northeast.
"I feel like this is planes, trains and automobiles right now," said Charles Martorano.
Martorano was headed home to New York.
"From what I see, the flight is delayed about two hours and 15 minutes," Martorano said.
According to TIA officials, there were 178 flight delays on Wednesday. The delays were largely due to Winter Storm Cato, which dumped heavy rain and snow along the East Coast.
Nationwide, weather experts warned passengers could wait three to six hours to catch their flights.
In Tampa, the average delay was between an hour to an hour and a half.
"We actually switched to an earlier flight to get out," said Showneen Vetzel, who was headed to Boston with her son. "We were originally supposed to leave at 9 tonight."
Tawana Dandy caught an early flight, too. She left New York City before the winter chaos.
"Well, I was trying to run from the snow, so I'm very happy that I made it here safe," Dandy said.
Not everyone was that lucky. TIA officials say eight flights were canceled.
Nearly 260,000 travelers are expected to come in and out of Tampa's airport over the Thanksgiving holiday. That's up 8 percent from last year.