MIA: Storms Force Miami Ground Stop, 51 Flights Cancelled

MIAMI, Florida — November 3, 2026 — Thunderstorms forced an FAA ground stop at Miami International Airport (MIA) on Monday afternoon, November 2. The airport ended the day with 333 delayed and 51 cancelled flights, according to FlightAware figures compiled by AirHelp. American Airlines, MIA’s largest carrier, took the biggest hit.

What happened

Ground stop: the FAA halted traffic into Miami from 3:11 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern on November 2, AirHelp reports. The FAA’s November 2 operations plan listed thunderstorms as the cause.
Delays before the stop: an FAA snapshot cited by RusTourismNews showed gate-hold and taxi delays at MIA of between one hour 46 minutes and two hours.
Totals for the day: 333 flights delayed and 51 cancelled at MIA (AirHelp, using FlightAware data).
Other Florida airports: Fort Lauderdale (FLL) also had a ground stop, Melbourne (MLB) was listed as closed from 12:42 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Fort Myers (RSW) logged 108 delays. Across the four airports, 908 flights were delayed or cancelled.
November 3: no source reported the disruption continuing into Tuesday. RusTourismNews noted more disruption is possible if storms redevelop. Further storm disruption: TBA.

Airlines hit hardest at MIA

Airline	Cancelled	Delayed
American Airlines	40	217
Envoy (American Eagle)	9	39

Source: AirHelp, citing FlightAware. Figures for other airlines at MIA were not published.

What it means for non-revs

Expect tight loads out of MIA for a day or two. Passengers from 51 cancelled flights, most of them American and Envoy, are being reaccommodated first. Standby seats on American’s Caribbean, Latin America and domestic flights from MIA may be scarce until the backlog clears.
Avoid the afternoon bank while storms are forecast. Monday’s ground stop hit between about 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. If you have a choice, list on a morning departure.
Do not plan a tight connection through MIA. Gate holds of nearly two hours were reported before the ground stop even began. Leave a long buffer or travel a day early.
Carry on. With misconnects and rebookings, a checked bag can end up on a different flight from you.
Fort Lauderdale is not an easy back-up today. FLL had its own ground stop and heavy delays on the same afternoon. Palm Beach may be worth checking, but storms can affect the whole region.

Sources

AirHelp — “Miami and Fort Lauderdale ground stops as 908 flights disrupted across Florida” (updated November 3, 2026) — airhelp.com
RusTourismNews — “Miami and Fort Lauderdale Airports Hit by FAA Ground Stops as Thunderstorms Strike” (November 2, 2026) — rustourismnews.com