Hundreds of flights are delayed out of DIA Saturday as the National Weather Service in Boulder released a special weather statement.

As of 3:30 p.m. Saturday, 522 total flights had been delayed into or out of DIA, with 168 of the delays from United Airlines and 224 from Southwest, according to flight tracking site FlightAware. 

Just after 2 p.m. Saturday, the NWS in Boulder sent out a special weather statement for the DIA and surrounding area, stating potential for landspouts and penny-sized hail.

The storm “may produce a brief landspout tornado or two,” the NWS said in a follow-up tweet. “Please take shelter if you see a tornado or are under a tornado warning.”

A landspout tornado is a tornado with a “narrow, rope-like” funnel that forms while a thunderstorm cloud is growing and there is no rotating updraft, according to the NWS website. They tend to be much weaker and shorter lived than supercell tornados, with winds that rarely exceed 100 mph, the website says.

Travelers are urged to check their flight status before heading to the airport.