Backlog Begins To Clear At Charlotte Douglas

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About 500 travelers are still stranded at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, but officials said they expect those people to get flights out by the end of Wednesday. (Click here to check flight statuses.)

Hundreds of flights were canceled on Monday and Tuesday after the storm brought between 4 and 6 inches of snow to Charlotte.

SLIDESHOW:Heavy Snow Blankets Charlotte Area

VIDEO: Greyhound Passengers Get Moving After Frustrating Delays

The number of stranded passengers is about half what it was early Wednesday morning, when more than 1,000 people were stuck at Charlotte Douglas. Traveler John Mason was supposed to leave with his family for Birmingham on Tuesday afternoon. Instead, he was re-booked four times before having to spend the night in Charlotte.

“Everybody's scrambling for a hotel room, to get on another flight,” he said. “It's a pure nightmare.”

Dozens of people spent the night sleeping on the airport floor because they couldn’t get hotel rooms. Rows of baggage sat in the downstairs area from passengers whose flights were canceled or transferred.

The airport hopes to have most stranded passengers cleared out by Wednesday night. The only people who have been re-booked for another day are those heading to Boston, US Airways officials said. Snow in that area is preventing incoming flights.

The airport ran out of de-icing fluid on Monday night, which, coupled with weather issues in Charlotte and elsewhere, limited the flights coming in and out of Charlotte. Airport officials said maintenance crews were forced to use two or three times more de-icing fluid than usual on planes because of the amount of snow and ice the storm brought.

VIDEO: Airport Runs Out Of De-Icing Fluid

“We've run through an annual supply in the last couple of days,” Aviation Director Jerry Orr said on Tuesday.

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Closings, Delays

The storm forced Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools officials to cancel classes for three straight days. The district is operating on a two-hour delay on Thursday. CMS has scheduled makeup days for Monday's missed classes on Jan. 17, Tuesday's missed classes on Feb. 18 and Wednesday's missed classes on Feb. 21.

Many other school districts and businesses were closed Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday because of the inclement weather. For a complete list of closings and delays, click here.

SLIDESHOW:Kids Take Advantage Of Snow Day

VIDEO: Snow Days Add Up For Students In Foothills, Mountains

Road Conditions

Travel conditions during the Wednesday morning commute were a vast improvement over the Tuesday morning commute, when most secondary roads were covered in a sheet of solid ice.

SLIDESHOW: Icy Conditions Cause Dicey Driving

As the temperature nears the freezing mark, most remaining ice is expected to turn to slush. However, icy patches may linger in shady spots.

Slippery sidewalks, driveways and stairs have kept Medic busy over the past few days. On Tuesday, Medic said many of its weather-related calls came from people on foot.

"We've seen it all, people going out the back door to their car and fall down the steps, people going to their offices and, unfortunately, the parking lots haven’t been plowed or treated,” Jeff Keith with Medic said.