Is there a ground stop at TPA today?
No ground stop at TPA right now (as of 4:56 PM ET, Nov 6): the FAA lists no ground stop, ground delay program or delays for Tampa International Airport. In the last 12 months the FAA issued 23 ground stops and 1 ground delay program for TPA, most often for thunderstorms, holding flights on 22 days.
Live FAA delay status for Tampa International Airport (KTPA, Tampa, FL): ground stops, ground delay programs and delays right now, what the FAA has listed for TPA recently, and how often flights here actually run late.
No: the FAA is not reporting a ground stop at TPA right now.
FAA NAS Status lists no ground stop, ground delay program, or delay event for Tampa Intl. Checked Nov 6, 2026 · 2156Z (4:56 PM EST); this page refreshes about every two minutes.
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Why TPA gets delayed
Tampa's FAA story is short and seasonal. Of the 25 programs for TPA in the 12 months to October 2026, 23 were ground stops for thunderstorms, and July and August accounted for 13 of them. The 20-year record puts Tampa at about 84 thunderstorm days a year.
The stops typically lasted about an hour and a half; the longest, on May 2, 2026, ran 5 h 25 min. Tampa had only one ground delay program all year, for runway work in December 2025. What hurts Tampa travelers more is the evening: late-arriving aircraft caused 46% of TPA delay minutes in BTS data.
Written by the ATIS Alerts team from FAA Command Center advisories (October 2025 to October 2026), BTS airline on-time data (June 2025 to May 2026) and 20 years of hourly weather observations. Updated October 2026.
How long TPA delays usually last
Every FAA ground stop and ground delay program for TPA from Nov 6, 2025 to Nov 5, 2026, rebuilt from the FAA Command Center's own advisories.
Ground delay programs
1Ground stops
23Flights to TPA were held by at least one FAA program on 22 days in the last year. 58% of the stops and programs began between 2 PM and 6 PM local time.
What triggered them
TPA ground stops and delay programs by month
| Month | Ground stops | Delay programs | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 2025 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| January 2026 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| February 2026 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| March 2026 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| April 2026 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| May 2026 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| June 2026 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| July 2026 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| August 2026 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| September 2026 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| October 2026 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| November 2026 to dateplus Nov 6-30, 2025 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The busiest month was August, with 7 ground stops and delay programs combined.
Source: FAA ATCSCC advisory database (fly.faa.gov), every ground stop and ground delay program advisory the FAA Command Center issued for TPA, rebuilt daily by ATIS Alerts.
Best time of day to fly out of TPA
Airline departures scheduled before 9 AM left on time 93% of the time, against 54% for those scheduled after 9 PM. By weekday, Wednesday was the most reliable (82%) and Sunday the least (72%). BTS on-time data, June 2025 to May 2026; on time = within 15 minutes.
Recent FAA events at TPA
Ground stops and delay programs the FAA has listed for TPA in the last 90 days, from ATIS Alerts' own log of FAA NAS Status.
- Departure DelaysOct 7, 2026 · 1955Z (3:55 PM EDT)lasted 6h 55m · wx:thunderstorms · avg delay 15 min
- Departure DelaysOct 5, 2026 · 2315Z (7:15 PM EDT)lasted 2h 35m · tm initiatives:mit:wx · avg delay 15 min
- Ground StopSep 20, 2026 · 2110Z (5:10 PM EDT)lasted 1h 3m · thunderstorms
- Departure DelaysSep 11, 2026 · 1844Z (2:44 PM EDT)lasted 2h 16m · wx:thunderstorms · avg delay 23 min
Durations are the time the FAA kept the event listed. Log complete from 2026-09-22; older rows are the last event of each type seen by the ATIS Alerts bot since 2026-07-22.
How often is TPA delayed?
Airline on-time performance at TPA, Jun 2025 to May 2026, from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
78,062 scheduled airline arrivals and 78,064 departures in the period. Best month: Sep 2025 (85.3% on time); worst: Jul 2025 (65.6%). 23% of arrival delay minutes were charged to weather or the National Airspace System, the categories a ground stop or ground delay program falls under.
On-time arrivals by month
Bar = share of arrivals within 15 minutes of schedule; largest month had 7,674 arrivals.
What caused the delays
- 46%Late-arriving aircraft
- 31%Airline (crew, maintenance, ground handling)
- 19%National Airspace System (ATC, volume, non-extreme weather)
- 4%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
Shares of delay minutes on arrivals 15+ minutes late, as reported by the carriers to the DOT.
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) Airline On-Time Performance (reporting carriers; regional, cargo, and general aviation flights are not included). Published about two months after each month ends.
Weather at KTPA right now
Weather drives most ground stops: thunderstorms, low ceilings, wind and snow.
METAR KTPA 062153Z 33010KT 10SM FEW050 FEW080 28/20 A2990 RMK AO2 SLP123 T02780200
TPA ground stop FAQ
Is there a ground stop at TPA today?
No ground stop at TPA right now (as of 4:56 PM ET, Nov 6): the FAA lists no ground stop, ground delay program or delays for Tampa International Airport. This page rechecks the FAA's NAS Status feed about every two minutes.
How do I know if TPA has a ground stop right now?
The banner at the top of this page reads the FAA's NAS Status feed about every two minutes. A red banner means the FAA currently lists a ground stop for Tampa Intl; green means it does not. The official source is nasstatus.faa.gov.
How many ground stops has TPA had in the last year?
In the last 12 months the FAA issued 23 ground stops and 1 ground delay program for TPA, most often for thunderstorms, holding flights on 22 days. Source: the FAA Command Center's advisory database (fly.faa.gov).
How long do ground stops at TPA last?
In the last 12 months the FAA issued 23 ground stops for TPA. The typical one lasted 1 h 31 min, and the middle half ran 1 h to 2 h 22 min. Nationally, most stops run 30 to 90 minutes per issuance, but a stalled line of storms can keep one extended for hours.
Does a ground stop mean my flight is cancelled?
No. It means departures to TPA are held, not cancelled. Airlines cancel on their own when the backlog cannot be recovered, so watch your carrier's updates alongside this page.
⚠️ Informational only. FAA NAS Status is the authoritative source for delay programs; your airline or dispatch governs your flight. ATIS Alerts is not affiliated with the FAA.