Flight planning: John Wayne/Orange County SNA / KSNA
What a pilot looks at before a flight from or to John Wayne/Orange County in Santa Ana, California, in plain English: right now VFR: good flying weather, Wind from the south-southwest (200°) at 7 knots. The warnings, reports and winds below come from the government's aviation weather service and the restrictions from the FAA, refreshed every few minutes. For planning, not a briefing: the legal preflight briefing comes from Flight Service (1-800-WX-BRIEF) or the FAA's own tools.
Warnings in force SIGMETs and AIRMETs whose area covers this field
- AIRMET SIERRA 6E: mountains obscured by cloud (due to mountains obscured by clouds, precipitation, mist).
A SIGMET warns of weather hazardous to all aircraft (thunderstorms, severe turbulence or icing, volcanic ash); an AIRMET of weather that matters to small aircraft and to flying without instruments (moderate turbulence or icing, low cloud, strong surface wind, mountains hidden in cloud). An area is counted when it covers this field's position.
Pilot reports within 100 nautical miles, last three hours, nearest first
- E75S at 5,000 ft, 16 nm west, 5:00 pm PDT (00:00 UTC): a routine report with nothing remarked on.
as filed, and in English
LGB UA /OV LGB180003/TM 0000/FL050/TP E75S/SK OVC43-TOP050
- Report
- a routine report filed through LGB
- Where
- 3 nm south (180°) of LGB
- Time
- 00:00 UTC
- Height
- at 5,000 ft
- Aircraft
- E75S
- Sky
- OVC43-TOP050
- B737 at 5,000 ft, 16 nm west, 3:30 pm PDT (22:30 UTC): a broken layer from 3,300 ft to 5,000 ft.
as filed, and in English
LGB UA /OV KLGB180005/TM 2230/FL050/TP B737/SK BKN033-TOPS050
- Report
- a routine report filed through LGB
- Where
- 5 nm south (180°) of KLGB
- Time
- 22:30 UTC
- Height
- at 5,000 ft
- Aircraft
- B737
- Sky
- a broken layer from 3,300 ft, tops 5,000 ft
- C172 at 1,400 ft, 21 nm west, 3:53 pm PDT (22:53 UTC): remarks: base 3,400 ft.
as filed, and in English
TOA UA /OV 4 E KTOA/TM 2253/FL014/TP C172/RM BASE 034
- Report
- a routine report filed through TOA
- Where
- 4 east KTOA
- Time
- 22:53 UTC
- Height
- at 1,400 ft
- Aircraft
- C172
- Remarks
- base 3,400 ft
- B739 at 3,400 ft, 23 nm northwest, 4:55 pm PDT (23:55 UTC): overcast above 5,400 ft, remarks: bases 3,500 ft.
as filed, and in English
KLAX UA /OV 10 E LAX/TM 2355/FL034/TP B739/SK OVC054/RM BASES 035
- Report
- a routine report filed through KLAX
- Where
- 10 east lax
- Time
- 23:55 UTC
- Height
- at 3,400 ft
- Aircraft
- B739
- Sky
- overcast from 5,400 ft
- Remarks
- bases 3,500 ft
- B757 at 4,000 ft, 24 nm northwest, 3:38 pm PDT (22:38 UTC): remarks: reduced visibility below the ceiling ILS25L.
as filed, and in English
LAX UA /OV LAX070010/TM 2238/FL040/TP B757/SK TOPS050 BASES040/RM REDUCED VISIBILITY BELOW THE CEILING. ILS25L
- Report
- a routine report filed through LAX
- Where
- 10 nm east (070°) of LAX
- Time
- 22:38 UTC
- Height
- at 4,000 ft
- Aircraft
- B757
- Sky
- TOPS050 BASES040
- Remarks
- reduced visibility below the ceiling ILS25L
- B737 at 4,000 ft, 31 nm northwest, 3:37 pm PDT (22:37 UTC): a broken layer from 4,000 ft to 5,000 ft.
as filed, and in English
KLAX UA /OV KLAX/TM 2237/FL040/TP B737/SK BKN040-TOP050
- Report
- a routine report filed through KLAX
- Where
- over KLAX
- Time
- 22:37 UTC
- Height
- at 4,000 ft
- Aircraft
- B737
- Sky
- a broken layer from 4,000 ft, tops 5,000 ft
- E75L , 31 nm northwest, 2:20 pm PDT (21:20 UTC): a broken layer from 3,700 ft to 4,700 ft.
as filed, and in English
KLAX UA /OV KLAX/TM 2120/FL2125/TP E75L/SK BKN037-TOP047
- Report
- a routine report filed through KLAX
- Where
- over KLAX
- Time
- 21:20 UTC
- Height
- at 212,500 ft
- Aircraft
- E75L
- Sky
- a broken layer from 3,700 ft, tops 4,700 ft
- A320 at 3,500 ft, 32 nm northwest, 3:13 pm PDT (22:13 UTC): a broken layer above 3,500 ft, remarks: during the descent RY25L.
as filed, and in English
LAX UA /OV LAX/TM 2213/FL035/TP A320/SK BKN-BASE035/RM DURD RY25L
- Report
- a routine report filed through LAX
- Where
- over LAX
- Time
- 22:13 UTC
- Height
- at 3,500 ft
- Aircraft
- A320
- Sky
- BKN-BASE035
- Remarks
- during the descent RY25L
- E55P at 3,000 ft, 35 nm northwest, 3:00 pm PDT (22:00 UTC): a broken layer from 3,000 ft to 5,000 ft, remarks: during the descent RY21.
as filed, and in English
SMO UA /OV SMO030008/TM 2200/FL030/TP E55P/SK BKN030-TOP050/RM DURD RY21
- Report
- a routine report filed through SMO
- Where
- 8 nm northeast (030°) of SMO
- Time
- 22:00 UTC
- Height
- at 3,000 ft
- Aircraft
- E55P
- Sky
- a broken layer from 3,000 ft, tops 5,000 ft
- Remarks
- during the descent RY21
- C172 at 2,500 ft, 44 nm southeast, 3:34 pm PDT (22:34 UTC): a broken layer, remarks: bases 2,500 ft tops 4,000 ft.
as filed, and in English
CRQ UA /OV 1 MI WEST/TM 2234/FL025/TP C172/SK BKN/RM BASES 025 TOPS 040
- Report
- a routine report filed through CRQ
- Where
- 1 mi west
- Time
- 22:34 UTC
- Height
- at 2,500 ft
- Aircraft
- C172
- Sky
- a broken layer
- Remarks
- bases 2,500 ft tops 4,000 ft
- B737 at 14,000 ft, 46 nm north, 2:54 pm PDT (21:54 UTC): moderate turbulence.
as filed, and in English
ONT UA /OV 20N ONT/TM 2154/FL140/TP B737/TB MOD
- Report
- a routine report filed through ONT
- Where
- 20N ont
- Time
- 21:54 UTC
- Height
- at 14,000 ft
- Aircraft
- B737
- Turbulence
- moderate
- B738 descending, 47 nm north, 2:37 pm PDT (21:37 UTC): moderate chop turbulence.
as filed, and in English
ONT UA /OV ONT358021/TM 2137/FLDURD/TP B738/TB MODERATE CHOP STARTING AT 130
- Report
- a routine report filed through ONT
- Where
- 21 nm north (358°) of ONT
- Time
- 21:37 UTC
- Height
- during the descent
- Aircraft
- B738
- Turbulence
- moderate chop starting at at 13,000 ft
What pilots in the air told air traffic control or Flight Service: turbulence, icing, cloud tops and bases, temperature, wind, and whatever they remarked on (wind shear on final, a smooth ride). An urgent report is one of severe turbulence or icing, wind shear, or similar. Open "as filed, and in English" for the coded report and its translation line by line.
Winds and temperatures aloft forecast point ONT, 26 nm northeast of the field · for use 20:00–03:00 UTC
| Height | Wind from | Speed | Temperature |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3,000 ft | 230° (southwest) | 11 knots | |
| 6,000 ft | 200° (south) | 17 knots | 6 °C |
| 9,000 ft | 230° (southwest) | 27 knots | 4 °C |
| 12,000 ft | 230° (southwest) | 32 knots | -2 °C |
| 18,000 ft | 210° (southwest) | 39 knots | -12 °C |
| 24,000 ft | 220° (southwest) | 51 knots | -20 °C |
| 30,000 ft | 220° (southwest) | 48 knots | -29 °C |
| 34,000 ft | 210° (southwest) | 51 knots | -34 °C |
| 39,000 ft | 210° (southwest) | 52 knots | -44 °C |
Based on data from the 11th at 18:00 UTC; valid on the 12th at 00:00 UTC for use 20:00 to 03:00 UTC; temperatures above 24,000 ft are below zero. Heights are above sea level; the lowest rows are left out where the ground is already that high.
Temporary flight restrictions within 50 nautical miles, from the FAA's list
- 4/3635 DISNEYLAND THEME PARK, ANAHEIM,, CA 5 nm north · security · ZLA
Each restriction opens the FAA's own page with the exact area, heights and times. Ordinary notices to air missions (a closed runway, lights out, a crane) are not shown here: the FAA's notice search is not open to sites like this one at this time, and the application for the FAA's data feed is in hand.
Radar and forecast charts government pictures, the latest each time the page loads
The radar pictures come from the National Weather Service (the nearest radar, then the region); the surface analysis and the 12- and 24-hour forecast charts from the Weather Prediction Center. They are public-domain government images shown as they are published.
Sources: the Aviation Weather Center's data service (SIGMETs, AIRMETs, graphical AIRMETs, pilot reports, winds and temperatures aloft), the National Weather Service radar, the Weather Prediction Center's charts, and the FAA's temporary flight restriction list and shapes. Fetched when the page is viewed and kept a few minutes. Back to John Wayne/Orange County, where the current observation and the forecast for the field are.