The U.S. aircraft register, updated daily
Plan a flight · Mon 9:08 am CDT (14:08 UTC)

Baton Rouge Metro, Ryan Field to Joe Foss Field BTR → FSD

828 nautical miles (952 statute miles) north on a straight line, true course 343°, about 343° magnetic at the departure end (variation 0E). At 120 knots that is 6 h 34 min at the quickest height in today's winds (4,500 ft, a 6-knot tailwind), arriving about 3:42 pm CDT (20:42 UTC). For planning, not a briefing: the legal preflight briefing comes from Flight Service (1-800-WX-BRIEF) or the FAA's own tools. Airlines fly this pair: 1 flights in the DOT's last twelve reported months, the route's page.

The return flight

The route the straight line, the warnings crossed, restrictions, pilot reports and the airports along the way · click a mark for its words

Green, blue, red and purple airport dots are the flying conditions reported there now (VFR, marginal VFR, IFR, low IFR); grey means no report. Red areas are SIGMETs, orange areas AIRMETs, hatched red areas temporary flight restrictions. Map tiles: OpenFreeMap, data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Warnings the route crosses SIGMETs and AIRMETs whose area the line passes through or comes within 25 nm of

  • AIRMET TANGO 2W: low-level wind shear (due to air speed loss or gain of 20 knots or more below 2,000 ft above the ground). Over the route from 419 to 698 nm out.
  • AIRMET SIERRA 4E: low cloud or poor visibility (IFR conditions) (due to ceilings below 1,000 ft, visibility below 3 miles, precipitation, mist). Over the last 10 nm of the route.

A SIGMET warns of weather hazardous to all aircraft; an AIRMET of weather that matters to small aircraft and to flying without instruments. "From 60 to 180 nm out" is measured along the route from BTR.

Pilot reports along the route within 50 nm of the line, last three hours, the serious ones first

Not fetched just now.

Winds aloft along the route, and the time en route the forecast for use 08:00–15:00 UTC · at 120 knots true airspeed

The westbound cruising heights for this course (VFR: even thousands plus 500 ft; above 18,000 ft the forecast levels), with the wind averaged along the line from the 8 forecast points nearest it (MSY, JAN, LIT, FSM, SGF, MKC, OMA, FSD). A plus sign is a headwind, a minus sign a tailwind.

HeightAverage windHead- or tailwindTemperatureGround speedTime en routeArrival
4,500 ft240° at 26 kt−6 kt126 kt6 h 34 min3:42 pm CDT (20:42 UTC)
6,500 ft240° at 21 kt−2 kt18 °C122 kt6 h 47 min3:55 pm CDT (20:55 UTC)
8,500 ft240° at 18 kt−4 kt13 °C124 kt6 h 41 min3:49 pm CDT (20:49 UTC)
10,500 ft240° at 18 kt−5 kt10 °C125 kt6 h 37 min3:45 pm CDT (20:45 UTC)
12,500 ft240° at 18 kt−5 kt5 °C125 kt6 h 37 min3:45 pm CDT (20:45 UTC)
14,500 ft240° at 20 kt−3 kt1 °C123 kt6 h 44 min3:52 pm CDT (20:52 UTC)
16,500 ft250° at 21 kt−1 kt-4 °C121 kt6 h 51 min3:59 pm CDT (20:59 UTC)
18,000 ft FL180250° at 23 kt+1 kt-7 °C119 kt6 h 57 min4:05 pm CDT (21:05 UTC)
24,000 ft FL240250° at 29 kt+2 kt-18 °C118 kt7 h 01 min4:09 pm CDT (21:09 UTC)
30,000 ft FL300280° at 45 kt+23 kt-31 °C97 kt8 h 32 min5:40 pm CDT (22:40 UTC)
34,000 ft FL340280° at 48 kt+25 kt-39 °C95 kt8 h 43 min5:51 pm CDT (22:51 UTC)
39,000 ft FL390290° at 47 kt+31 kt-49 °C89 kt9 h 18 min6:26 pm CDT (23:26 UTC)

Based on data from the 12th at 06:00 UTC; valid on the 12th at 12:00 UTC for use 08:00 to 15:00 UTC; temperatures above 24,000 ft are below zero. Heights are above sea level; a height is left out when the forecast has no wind for it over most of the line (the ground is higher). Ground speed is the airspeed less the headwind; the time en route is for the straight line and ignores climb, descent and routing around weather.

The forecast points as issued
PointFrom3,0006,0009,00012,00018,00024,00030,00034,00039,000
MSYused from 0 nm out; 78 nm from the line150/9140/8 18°L/V 13°L/V 6°320/15 -5°310/16 -16°320/32 -31°340/35 -40°350/34 -52°
JANused from 50 nm out; 85 nm from the line240/10260/15 18°280/10 11°290/6 6°290/15 -5°300/15 -17°320/35 -30°330/38 -40°330/39 -51°
LITused from 150 nm out; 86 nm from the line250/22250/25 18°240/23 12°240/20 7°250/17 -6°260/25 -17°300/45 -29°300/49 -40°310/43 -51°
FSMused from 299 nm out; 64 nm from the line230/33260/23 15°240/23 11°230/18 8°230/20 -8°250/31 -17°280/51 -30°280/52 -39°300/47 -51°
SGFused from 349 nm out; 47 nm from the line230/37260/20 15°250/16 13°250/15 8°260/28 -7°250/31 -17°280/59 -31°280/59 -39°290/55 -50°
MKCused from 498 nm out; 19 nm from the line240/49240/21 20°220/19 13°230/21 6°260/26 -7°250/37 -19°270/66 -31°270/65 -38°280/60 -48°
OMAused from 598 nm out; 64 nm from the line230/47240/33 21°230/22 13°220/27 5°240/35 -8°250/43 -21°260/47 -33°260/59 -36°270/58 -46°
FSDused from 748 nm out; 55 nm from the line210/20230/23 21°220/25 14°230/30 5°230/26 -9°240/30 -21°270/33 -36°260/47 -37°270/58 -47°

The weather now: both ends and the airports along the way public airports with a weather report within 25 nm of the line, one for each stretch

AirportWhereConditionsWindVisibilityCeilingElevationReported
BTR Baton Rouge, LA departure no report just now 69 ft
HEZ Natchez, MS 60 nm out, 13 nm northeast of the line no report just now 272 ft
MLU Monroe, LA 130 nm out, 8 nm southwest of the line, tower no report just now 78 ft
CDH Camden, AR 199 nm out, 22 nm west of the line no report just now 129 ft
LIT Little Rock, AR 259 nm out, 24 nm east of the line, tower no report just now 266 ft
BBG Branson, MO 379 nm out, 13 nm east of the line, tower no report just now 1,302 ft
SGF Springfield, MO 419 nm out, 17 nm east of the line, tower no report just now 1,268 ft
MKC Kansas City, MO 538 nm out, 4 nm north of the line, tower no report just now 756 ft
STJ St Joseph, MO 588 nm out, 4 nm south of the line, tower no report just now 826 ft
OMA Omaha, NE 688 nm out, 12 nm southwest of the line, tower no report just now 984 ft
SUX Sioux City, IA 758 nm out, 10 nm southwest of the line, tower no report just now 1,098 ft
FSD Sioux Falls, SD destination no report just now 1,430 ft

The highest airport on this list sits at 1,430 ft; the ground between airports is higher still. Check the sectional chart for the terrain and the minimum safe heights along the line.

At FSD when you get there the forecast at the estimated arrival, 3:42 pm CDT (20:42 UTC)

FSD has no terminal forecast; use the nearest airport that does.

Temporary flight restrictions on the line or within 25 nm of it

No temporary flight restriction on or near this route right now.

Daylight

Sunset at BTR 6:36 pm CDT (23:36 UTC), at FSD 6:49 pm CDT (23:49 UTC) (civil twilight ends 7:17 pm CDT (00:17 UTC)).

Each restriction opens the FAA's own page with the exact area, heights and times. Ordinary notices to air missions (closed runways, lights out) are not shown: the FAA's notice search is not open to sites like this one at this time.

Radar and forecast charts for the regions crossed government pictures, the latest each time the page loads

Radar now, the lower Mississippi valley
Radar now, the lower Mississippi valley · loop National Weather Service
Radar now, the upper Mississippi valley
Radar now, the upper Mississippi valley · loop National Weather Service
Radar now, the northern Rockies
Radar now, the northern Rockies · loop National Weather Service
Radar, the whole country
Radar, the whole country · loop National Weather Service
Surface analysis now
Surface analysis now Weather Prediction Center
Forecast chart, 12 hours ahead
Forecast chart, 12 hours ahead Weather Prediction Center
Forecast chart, 24 hours ahead
Forecast chart, 24 hours ahead Weather Prediction Center

Sources: the Aviation Weather Center's data service (SIGMETs, AIRMETs, graphical AIRMETs, pilot reports, winds and temperatures aloft, observations and terminal forecasts), the National Weather Service radar, the Weather Prediction Center's charts, the FAA's temporary flight restriction list and shapes, and the FAA's airport file for the positions, elevations and magnetic variation. Fetched when the page is viewed and kept a few minutes. Each leg is the straight line between its two airports; airways, terrain and airspace are not considered. The airports in detail: Baton Rouge Metro, Ryan Field, Joe Foss Field.