Washington ( CNN ) -- Lightning struck the air-traffic control tower at Baltimore 's airport Thursday as thunderstorms delayed flights across the Northeast . The lightning strike at Baltimore Washington International Airport around 2:20 p.m . ET forced officials to temporarily halt takeoffs and landings . The airport reopened around 4:45 p.m. , according to a Twitter post from its official account . But the tower remained closed . `` The tower is not handling any air traffic operations at this time and the FAA 's Potomac Consolidated Terminal radar approach control facility has assumed control of the airspace , '' the FAA said in a statement . Officials evacuated the tower after lightning struck and handed over control of planes to the Potomac facility , an FAA official said . The FAA reported departure delays for flights destined for Baltimore , Boston , Newark , New York , Philadelphia and Washington . CNN 's Sean Morris contributed to this report .
NEW : FAA reports departure ##s for flights heading to Northeast . Officials say BWI has reopened , but the airport is closed . Lightning strikes tower at Baltimore Washington International Airport .