Questions & Answers about Из-за снега задержка будет часа три.
Why does the sentence say часа три instead of три часа?
Swapping the usual order of a number and its noun is a common way to say 'about' or 'approximately' in Russian. While три часа means exactly 'three hours', putting the noun first as часа три changes the meaning to 'about three hours'.
Why is it часа (genitive singular) and not часов (genitive plural) if it means 'about three hours'?
Even though the word order is inverted to show approximation, the grammar rules for the numbers do not change. The number три always requires the noun to be in the genitive singular, which is часа.
Why is снег (snow) in the genitive case form снега?
The preposition из-за (due to / because of) always requires the noun that follows it to be in the genitive case.
Could we use потому что or благодаря instead of из-за to say 'because of the snow'?
Потому что translates as 'because', but it must be followed by a full clause with a subject and verb, not just a single noun. Благодаря means 'thanks to' and is used for positive outcomes. Since a delay is usually negative, из-за is the correct preposition to use with a noun here.