happening now, extreme winter. the dangerous conditions affecting millions of americans with another blast of snow on the horizon. what you need to know to weather the storm of the decade and also historic gridlock in america's airports. "crossfire" is off tonight so we can bring you the very latest on the weather and travel across the u.s. i'm brianna keilar, and you're in "the situation room." tonight, millions of americans are struggling to dig out and move on from one of the biggest snow and ice disasters in memory, but another storm is moving toward the east coast right now, and it's threatening to add to that danger and all the gridlock in the hardest-hit areas. a blizzard watch now has been

issued for the coast of massachusetts. we're seeing is more frustrating cancellations and delays at some of the nation's biggest and busiest airports. this winter has been brutal for air travel with a record number of cancellations, apparently more than we've seen in a quarter century. cnn's rosa flores is standing by at laguardia in new york. but first reagan national airport outside of washington. >> brianna, yesterday was the single-worst travel day yet this winter. let me give you the numbers because it does show you how extensive all the delays and cancellations have been. in the last 36 hours there have been over 8,000 cancellations, but that doesn't even include, brianna, the delays. let me show you what people at reagan national are seeing. this is the board everyone fears seeing their flight up on. look at these cancellations and note that these are in the new york area. that's where we're still seeing

a lot of the delays. a lot of travelers are frustrated. many spent the night in the airport and we're meeting a lot of travelers who are trying to get to their plans, one is arlene with me. she's trying to reunite with their family. they've not had a family reunion in a long time. she's trying to get to vermont for a ski vacation. tell me, how has it been? >> originally i was booked on a flight to go to albany where my parents would pick me up, but that flight got canceled. i couldn't find another flight out. the only other option was a flight that had four stops to get to albany. so finally i just decided to book on another airline flying to boston now where my sister's going to pick me up and we're going to drive all the way to vermont from boston. >> reporter: how confident are you that you'll arrive tonight and be able to enjoy your family vacation? >> the flight to boston got delayed 30 minutes. still hopeful that i'll get out. but you never know with this weather. >> reporter: you tell me one of

the most frustrating parts of it is the way you felt you were treated on the phone. tell me about your experience. >> when i got the e-mail that it was canceled, they said call this number to rebook your flight. i was on hold for more than 45 minutes while i was at work trying to figure out all these plans. still never got to anybody, which is why i switched to a dirt airline. >> reporter: i think that's the frustration that many travelers are seeing. it's just a bad situation. >> that is terrible. fingers crossed for arlen. let's check in now at laguardia airport in new york where cnn's rosa flores is. a lot of delays over the course of the day there, rosa. >> you're absolutely right. those delays have been growing as the day has been progressing. now, i want to show you some pictures because one of our cnn colleagues is actually going from new york to atlanta, and this is what she saw. not only gates being changed last minute but then once she was on the plane, then, of course, delays there as well. if we look at the bigger

picture, about 1400 flights delayed around the u.s. and when you talk about delays, hear this. i'm going to give you the latest number. 6,000 delays. and by far laguardia is not the worst airport. you can see on a misery map, which we always like to check on flight aware.com, ahead of us are two airports, laguardia is at number three right now. number one is charlotte international in north carolina, and then chicago o'hare. the good news is, of course, as the day progresses, also people are able to get out of the airport which is also nice because they finally get to their destination. delays here at laguardia going from an hour to an hour and 30 minutes all day long. right now we're at an hour and 13 minute delays. so brianna, if your cupid is airborne at this hour, that is good news because a lot of folks, of course, their flights

were canceled or delayed. >> a lot of folks may be spending their valentine's day texting each other, wishing each other a happy valentine's day. rosa flores, thank you so much. let's bring in now the airline reporter for the associated press. you know, first, scott, thanks for being with us. >> thank you for having me. >> i want you to sort of explain these cancellations, why they're happening. because it isn't just the weather, right? >> yeah, this is a record number of cancellations out there. and yes, mother nature has a large part to play in it. there's been storm after storm after storm, but this is not just weather. the airlines are now proactively canceling flights days in advance. we knew two, three days ago that some night flights wouldn't be off today. that's a big change in the playbook over the last few years. they say it helps them reset eventually. there's a lot more pain up front but in the end when the weather does clear, more people get to where they need to go at a better time. you also have fewer people stuck

on planes, sitting on the edge of the runway and even those folks who we remember sleeping on cots in airports, it's happened recently but not as bad as it was four, five years ago. >> if they're trying to avoid some of those horror stories of people stuck on the tarmac, you know, without any food for hours and hours, you're saying flights are more likely to be canceled. is this the passenger bill of rights actually backfiring? >> it's a little bit of a backfire there and a little bit of protection. i think it's a question of would you rather stay at home, get an e-mail from the airline saying we're sorry, we can't take you where you need to go today, or would you hope for that chance to get out, maybe sit on the edge of the runway for four or five hours, not have any water, have an airplane toilet that's unfortunately overflowing? which situation would you rather be in? so the airlines did warn us that things like this would happen when that bill went through, but i think a lot of passengers,

well, depends on your situation, but a lot of them would not like to be in that horrible situation. >> scott, let me ask you about this. because we're hearing a lot of anecdotal evidence of people having really bad customer service experience. you probably heard arlen there at dca airport. she said i called for 45 minutes, couldn't get anyone, had to go with a different airline. in the end, she just gave up. our executive producer of this very program, his flight to new york was canceled. he was given sort of a bogus reasoning for why. is there a customer service problem here, too? >> part of it is just a lack of information, to be honest. airlines have these incredible war rooms. it looks a little bit like nasa mission control. and they have everything you ever wanted to know about a flight, how many are on time, how many are delayed, how long some of them have been sitting out on the runway. the problem is not all that information gets to the people who need to know it. so the gate agents, the reservation agents, the people on the phone with customers

don't necessarily know that information. i was flying the other week, and i got text messages from my airline every ten minutes telling me about a delay. i was pushed back, 20 minutes, then another 30, then another 10. it took me three phone calls to get someone on the phone who knew what was actually happening with that plane and willing to find that information. and once i learned it was a mechanical problem, i said, great, can you find me another seat and get me out of here? >> i want some news that you can use for our viewers here because so many of them will have been affected, scott. if you're impacted by these cancellations, what do you do as a consumer? >> there's not tons you can do. you are really at the mercy of the airline but start looking at other options. if you can afford it, look for another airline. if your flight is canceled, you can get a refund. then find options that you can present to someone when you finally do get through on the phone. so if that's a strange rerouting through arizona to get to

seattle, go for it. try twitter. the airlines have been backed up with twitter, but you'd be surprised it actually does work. go ahead, spend the 25 or $50 to get a day pass to an airline lounge. it's actually a good way to get through to some people. the best agents are there. and then finally try calling that international phone number of the airline. you can find them online. they'll cost you a little bit extra, but you will get through to agents in europe or asia who aren't dealing with so many stranded travelers. >> i love it, scott, working around the system. call the international number. that's fantastic. scott mayewicz. up next, president obama is in california at this hour to meet with local farmers who are struggling with a huge problem right now. drought is killing crops and their livelihoods and that means that you will pay more at the grocery store.

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this special offer ends february 17th. ♪ president obama is in fresno, california, right now. he's getting a firsthand look at the state's drought crisis. he's announcing millions in federal aid, but what california really needs is rain and snow and a whole lot of it. cnn's miguel marquez is in fresno for us. tell us first off not only what the president is doing there, but tell us what your standing there doing now? >> reporter: i'm standing in a field that will be tomatoes, but this field will lie fallow as well as a third of the fields here in the central valley. the central valley produces about 90% of all processing tomatoes for the entire country. it does about half of all

vegetables, fruits and nuts for the entire country as well. a lot of these fields will lay fallow. that will put a lot of pressure on certain products throughout the year, price pleasure on those produ -- pressure on those products. the president is here to head some of that off. >> you have been allocated zero surface water for the next year, is that correct? >> yes. >> reporter: he's making tough choices for the coming year, tougher than he's ever had to make on his 11,000-acre farm. >> california grows 100% of the processing tomatoes in the nation. >> reporter: how many will you grow here this year? >> there will be nothing planted. >> reporter: zero? >> zero. >> reporter: for first time in history the california water project, a system of canals and reservoirs providing water to two-thirds of the people here set its allocation for all of them, city and farm alike, to zero. people will feel this at the grocery store eventually, yes? >> i think so. california is a major supplier

of many of the crops that i grow. lettuce, garlic, onions, processing tomatoes, almonds. >> reporter: yorba farm gets its water from 2,000 miles north, reservoirs of rain and snow. this year they're way, way below normal. what water there is, reserved to maintain endangered specie, salmon runs and bird habitats in this sacramento river delta. >> what's difficult is the inputs that are so essential being subjected to arbitrary governmental regulation. >> reporter: the government, say farmers, has authority to release more water, but with so many federal and state agencies involved, nothing happens. they want president obama to break the logjam, directing agencies to let the water flow. >> for anyone to believe that this devastation is only related to a single season of drought would be untrue. >> reporter: he is holding on with the water he has, well

water or allocations from previous years. almond trees must be watered or the loss unrecoverable. he also uses a very expensive yet efficient drip system on the crops he is growing. still, he expects to cut his hiring this year by a third. still, it can get worse if the drought goes on, what is tough this year will become devastating. now, here is the concern for farmers here. is that the water allocation set for zero is this coming year. they will have to make all of their choices about what they plant in the next 12 months based on that zero allocation if they don't get major, major rain in the next couple of months. that means that banks won't lend to them in the future for building out their farms. that means that businesses in the area we're already hearing about car dealerships and businesses closing throughout the area. if this doesn't resolve itself

soon and water doesn't start to fall from the sky, this could be an absolute disaster for not just farmland in this area but for businesses and whole communities. >> we know they are expecting some snow, some precipitation in the very northern part of california, but it's not getting down there far enough. miguel marquez, thank you so much. you know, from drought and flooding to historic snow and ice. people around the united states and around the world have been experiencing some extreme weather. our brian todd is out there in the elements here in washington joining us live to explain this to us. >> reporter: well, brianna, the snow here wasn't this high, but it sure felt like it. this series of storms has just pounded us here in the mid-atlantic, slammed the south, the northeast, but other regions got their own severe weather. and we're now told it was all connected. the refrain is so similar, from atlanta, which got one city stopping winter storm followed by another. >> it's been like nothing i've seen. i've lived here almost 30 years.

>> reporter: to the great lakes where 80 plus percent of the lakes were iced over for the first time in 20 years, the buildup forming ice caves. >> these were something special. i've never seen anything like it. they're as big as a garage. >> reporter: people in so many different regions say they've never seen weather like this winter's. over the past week, we reached a point where 49 out of 50 states have had snow on the ground. we've seen so-called thundersleet. captured in this i-report video from a backyard deck in grand meadow, new jersey. but also a punishing drought in california. people in more than a dozen towns in danger of running out of water. again that refrain -- >> this is the worst year if ever seen. >> reporter: these weather patterns are severe, crazy and connected. this winter a high pressure ridge of stable air blocked precipitation from coming in from the pacific ocean causing california's drought. then it pushed the jetstream

further up into canada than usual which then led to a deeper trough in the east pushing further south. that's why thoser yas got hit by cold weather from canada. >> they are associated with that long wave pattern. so they are connected in that sense. the same jet stream swung. >> great britain, causing severe flooding. the wettest january in two and a half centuries and yes, that same wave pattern is what's affected the winter olympics making it slm summertime in sochi and all slow-moving this year holding the severe weather patterns longer over all of us. why? a mystery. >> that's an area of research we're currently investigating. we don't have a clear-cut answer to that question. and if we did, we would have a much more skillful prediction in the longer time scale say out to one to two months. >> another mystery, whether all this is connected to climate change or not. the centers for environmental prediction say they're still

trying to crack that code to determine if climate change impacts those yet stream patterns are our crazy weather. >> you know, brian, so many people will say even if it's not backed by scientific evidence will say we're having such a terrible winter. this means our summer is going to be so warm. do you think that el nina, that warm air blast off the pacific ocean, could that force a warmer than usual summer season this year? >> bill la penta says that is possible and they're looking closely at that whether those those el nino patterns will affect the continental u.s. this summer. he says it may be too early to tell at this point. you can expect severe weather one way or another. >> it's become the norm. brian todd, thank you so much. ahead, more extreme weather on the way. find out who's under a blizzard watch for this weekend. plus, we'll show you how all this snow is taking a toll on romance this valentine's day. hey guys! sorry we're late. did you run into traffic?

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we are tracking a new winter storm moving through the midwest and toward the northeast. packing another blast of snow. so let's check in now with our severe weather expert chad meyers. what are we expecting from this? >> i just expect someone to shout over my head and say it ain't so, joe. >> exactly. >> you know? there's a low coming through close to louisville making snow up into cincinnati. it's going to track across the u.s. later tonight and up toward boston. it's going to interact with the gulf stream and bomb out, absolutely turn into this coastal bomb. and it's going to make snow for

boston down through the cape, maybe even toward audio most of rhode island and then all of chatham and the like. let me show you how this develops. it caught everybody off guard. we don't expect them to bomb right here unless you have a big dip in the jet stream. we're not seeing a lot of snow for new york or for any place here that saw a lot of snow, just literally down east in e into nova scotia, newfoundland and into boston. big, big snow is possible with blizzard warnings, we could see winds of 50 miles per hour. here comes the snow there you see new york. snow in the poconos but the biggest snow will be right along the cape. if this thing decides to go farther left, we could get more snow. farther to the west we'll have to see. right now that doesn't look like the case. it will be out of there by late saturday night. >> chad, you just heard brian talking about the weather extremes we've been seeing. what do you make of these?

>> it's all about what we call amplitude. the jet stream all winter has gone farther north than it usually does and farther south than it usually does. for a normal day. let's talk about a normal day, you get the jet stream to go straight across. we don't get very many norpal days. one day is 40, normal is 30. you add them up and divide by the number of days. this across zonal flow doesn't happen. what usually happens is a nice rice here a rice, rise here and trough right there. >> the gulf of mexico does this and we get a snowstorm right up the east coast. we've had more than our fair share. >> we have. and i love your sound effects. >> i've had a long week. >> i know. i feel you. happy valentine's day, chad. >> to you too. >> if you were hoping to receive valentine's day flowers today but you didn't, the weather may

be to blame or maybe you can use it as an excuse. i don't know. we talked to florists worried about deliveries and profits. >> in jeopardy, the most profitable day of the year for florists up and down the east coast. >> this is actually horrible for florists. with the weather it adds another element that we have to deal with. >> 100 million people have been hit by the storm. some florists forced to close. others pushing back orders till after the storm. nearly 67 million flower orders are at risk. >> 80% of the business for valentine's day is accomplished on the 13th and 14th. >> ftd, one of the largest online retailers of flowers has stopped taking additional orders in areas affected by the weather. a representative called delivery iffy. >> happy valentine's day.

i'm brianna keilar turning you i'm brianna keilar turning you over to erin burnett right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> next a war on the 1%. the man who compared the experience of wealthy americans to a deadly nazi campaign is at it again. what he's saying now in defense of billionaires. and american speed indicators reportedly blaming their poor performance on their hi-tech suits. are the uniforms slowing them down or just sore losers? plus, philip seymour hoffman's alleged heroin dealer in court today. his lawyer our exclusive guest tonight. let's go outfront". >> good evening, everyone. i'm erin burnett. out front tonight a war on the