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Il a neigé, de sorte que le vol est annulé.

Il a neigé, de sorte que le vol est annulé.
It snowed, so that the flight is cancelled.
From Lesson 289:Purpose and result (de sorte que)·French

Questions & Answers about Il a neigé, de sorte que le vol est annulé.

Why is est in the indicative rather than the subjunctive here?
The phrase de sorte que takes the indicative when it describes a result or consequence that actually happened (it snowed, and as a result, the flight is cancelled). If it were expressing a goal or purpose ('so that' meaning 'in order to'), it would require the subjunctive.
Why does the sentence use the past tense (a neigé) in the first half but the present tense (est annulé) in the second half?
The snowing happened in the past, but the result is a current state. Est annulé describes the condition of the flight right now as a direct consequence of that past snow.
Is est annulé the passive voice here?
Yes, it is a passive construction, but here annulé acts essentially as an adjective describing the current state of the flight. Just like any adjective, it agrees in gender and number with the subject, which is why it is masculine singular to match le vol.
Could I express the same idea using parce que (because)?
Yes, but you would have to flip the sentence around! De sorte que introduces the result ('It snowed, so the flight is cancelled'). To use parce que, you would need to introduce the cause: Le vol est annulé parce qu'il a neigé (The flight is cancelled because it snowed).

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