(NEW YORK) — At least 893 flights were canceled in the United States on Wednesday morning, with departures from the busy hubs of Chicago, Denver and Atlanta leading the list of the most cancellations, according to FlightAware.

Another 1,117 flights had been delayed as of about 1 p.m. ET, according to FlightAware.

Chicago O’Hare International topped the tracker’s list of cancellations, with 45 as of about 1 p.m. local time. Next was Denver with 43 and Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson with 37.

Wednesday’s flight cancellations appeared set to continue a dayslong streak of headaches at American airports, which were operating under duress amid a federal government shutdown.

The cancellations and delays have slowly crept down throughout the week, however, as Congress appeared ready to end the shutdown. The House of Representatives was set to vote on the bill Wednesday night.

As of 8:30 a.m. ET, there were no staffing issues with the exception of the ongoing shortage unrelated to the shutdown at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics company.

More than 1,200 flights in the U.S. were canceled on Tuesday, while another 2,600 were delayed. Winter weather that caused headaches in the Midwest and East on Monday and Tuesday were also no longer a factor for airports on Wednesday.

The Federal Aviation Administration continues to limit capacity at 40 major U.S. airports. Many federal employees, including Transportation Security Administration staffers, were working without pay as the partisan impasse dragged on in Washington.  

And while things have improved, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned the cancellations could cause major issues this weekend if the shutdown does not come to an end.

“If the government doesn’t open, it’s going to radically slow down,” Duffy said during a press conference on Tuesday. “If this doesn’t open, you might have airlines that say, ‘We’re going to ground our planes.’ That’s how serious this is.”

Airlines have not received any guidance on whether flight reductions will be adjusted once the shutdown ends, according to Chris Sununu, the president and CEO of Airlines for America, a trade association representing U.S. carriers.

Unless another directive is issued by the FAA, airlines plan to implement an 8% flight reduction on Thursday and a 10% reduction on Friday, Sununu said.

Once the government shutdown ends, it will take about a week before air travel operations return to normal, Sununu said. If the shutdown ends this week, smooth travel is expected over the Thanksgiving holiday, he said.

“There’s still plenty of time to make sure that everything over the Thanksgiving week goes off as originally planned,” Sununu said during a press conference on Wednesday.

ABC News’ Ayesha Ali contributed to this report.

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(SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif.) — Authorities said they are searching for an at-risk woman who was last seen at a bonfire on a California beach.

Danielle Staley, 35, of Utah, went missing while visiting the California Central Coast with a friend, according to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office.

She was last seen with a group of people at a bonfire on Rio Del Mar State Beach in Aptos shortly before midnight on Nov. 6, according to the sheriff’s office.

She was reported missing the following day, the sheriff’s office said.

Investigators have not ruled out foul play, and Staley is considered at-risk due to the circumstances of her disappearance, according to the sheriff’s office.

“Staley’s personal belongings were found on the beach, and she has not been in contact with her family — behavior that is uncharacteristic and has raised additional concern,” the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. “At this time, investigators are not ruling out foul play; however, the case is being treated as a missing person at risk due to the circumstances.”

Staley has been visiting the area with a friend, and they had been staying in a camper van near Rio Del Mar State Beach, according to the sheriff’s office.

The friend is cooperating with authorities, the sheriff’s office said.

Residents and businesses with surveillance video in the areas of Rio Del Mar Beach, Beach Drive, Treasure Island and Spreckels Drive have been asked to contact the sheriff’s office so deputies can review the footage.

“Detectives have been diligently working to track down any information and continue to do so,” the sheriff’s office said.

Authorities described Staley as 5’6″ and 120 pounds with blonde hair. She was last seen wearing a dark, hooded sweatshirt and leopard print leggings.

Anyone with information on Staley is urged to contact the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office at 831-471-1121.

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(NEW YORK) — Dazzling waves of color are lighting up the skies this week.

After green and pink displays of auroras lit up the sky Tuesday night, another Northern Light array is expected to bring a gleaming light show to the northern part of the U.S. Wednesday night.

The auroras are being caused by one of the strongest geomagnetic storms of the year, which occurs when electrons from the sun collide with Earth’s magnetic field to produce colored lights, according to NOAA.

“Aurora is the name given to the glow or light produced when electrons from space flow down Earth’s magnetic field and collide with atoms and molecules of the upper atmosphere in a ring or oval centered on the magnetic pole of Earth. The collisions produce light much like how electrons flowing through gas in a neon light collide with neon and other gasses to produce different colored light bulbs,” NOAA’s website reads.

Two dozen states could see the Northern Lights Wednesday night per NOAA’s aurora viewline map that includes Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

Mike Bettwy, a meteorologist at the Space Weather Prediction Center, told ABC News that the auroras on Wednesday could be as clear as the ones on Tuesday.

“We had three coronal mass ejections leave the Sun since late last week. The third and final one is expected to impact our atmosphere later today and tonight. It is difficult to predict with a high degree of certainty or precision, but it is possible this will be as impactful as last night’s event. There were reports of aurora as far south as Tampa, Florida, overnight,” Bettwy said.

“While not unprecedented, it is quite unusual for the aurora to be visible at these low latitudes; probably only occurring once or twice per solar cycle,” he added.

The best time to see the aurora is between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., according to NOAA.

NASA recommends going to the darkest area and using a long exposure to get the best photos of the light show, per their guidance.

NASA did not immediately reply to requests for comment from ABC News.

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