The U.S. aircraft register, updated daily
Plan a flight · Mon 12:14 am CDT (05:14 UTC)

William P Hobby Airport to The Eastern Iowa Airport HOU → CID

755 nautical miles (869 statute miles) north on a straight line, true course 012°, about 009° magnetic at the departure end (variation 3E). At 120 knots that is 5 h 19 min at the quickest height in today's winds (3,500 ft, a 22-knot tailwind), arriving about 5:33 am CDT (10:33 UTC), after sunset at the destination. 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: 2 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 3W: 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 last 228 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 HOU.

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 02:00–09:00 UTC · at 120 knots true airspeed

The eastbound cruising heights for this course (VFR: odd 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 (HOU, CLL, SHV, FSM, SGF, COU, BRL, DBQ). A plus sign is a headwind, a minus sign a tailwind.

HeightAverage windHead- or tailwindTemperatureGround speedTime en routeArrival
3,500 ft220° at 24 kt−22 kt142 kt5 h 19 min5:33 am CDT (10:33 UTC)
5,500 ft230° at 24 kt−20 kt140 kt5 h 24 min5:38 am CDT (10:38 UTC)
7,500 ft240° at 20 kt−15 kt14 °C135 kt5 h 36 min5:50 am CDT (10:50 UTC)
9,500 ft250° at 16 kt−10 kt11 °C130 kt5 h 48 min6:02 am CDT (11:02 UTC)
11,500 ft250° at 15 kt−8 kt8 °C128 kt5 h 54 min6:08 am CDT (11:08 UTC)
13,500 ft250° at 15 kt−8 kt4 °C128 kt5 h 54 min6:08 am CDT (11:08 UTC)
15,500 ft250° at 16 kt−8 kt0 °C128 kt5 h 54 min6:08 am CDT (11:08 UTC)
17,500 ft260° at 18 kt−8 kt-5 °C128 kt5 h 54 min6:08 am CDT (11:08 UTC)
18,000 ft FL180260° at 18 kt−8 kt-6 °C128 kt5 h 54 min6:08 am CDT (11:08 UTC)
24,000 ft FL240260° at 23 kt−9 kt-16 °C129 kt5 h 51 min6:05 am CDT (11:05 UTC)
30,000 ft FL300280° at 35 kt−2 kt-31 °C122 kt6 h 11 min6:25 am CDT (11:25 UTC)
34,000 ft FL340280° at 41 kt+1 kt-40 °C119 kt6 h 21 min6:35 am CDT (11:35 UTC)
39,000 ft FL390290° at 43 kt+7 kt-51 °C113 kt6 h 41 min6:55 am CDT (11:55 UTC)

Based on data from the 12th at 00:00 UTC; valid on the 12th at 06:00 UTC for use 02:00 to 09:00 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
HOUused from 0 nm out; 25 nm from the line160/22150/27 19°180/16 14°250/7 9°270/10 -5°270/16 -13°310/23 -29°310/26 -40°330/20 -52°
CLLused from 50 nm out; 74 nm from the line170/22170/26 18°200/15 14°240/13 8°240/15 -5°260/17 -13°290/27 -29°290/22 -40°320/30 -51°
SHVused from 99 nm out; 67 nm from the line200/18230/24 18°230/24 12°240/14 8°260/12 -4°240/11 -15°300/31 -29°300/32 -40°300/36 -52°
FSMused from 248 nm out; 76 nm from the line210/27250/23 16°250/20 13°240/17 8°250/18 -6°260/31 -16°280/42 -30°280/44 -40°290/38 -51°
SGFused from 397 nm out; 45 nm from the line230/33230/28 15°250/20 13°240/18 7°250/20 -6°250/24 -17°280/42 -31°280/49 -40°290/46 -51°
COUused from 497 nm out; 54 nm from the line230/31230/30 15°260/16 11°270/14 6°260/24 -6°270/27 -18°270/37 -32°280/49 -41°290/56 -51°
BRLused from 646 nm out; 50 nm from the line230/24240/29 15°290/16 10°280/15 4°260/23 -7°260/32 -19°260/36 -33°280/48 -41°280/59 -52°
DBQused from 745 nm out; 58 nm from the line230/33250/30 16°280/15 9°260/15 5°260/21 -7°260/24 -20°250/37 -33°270/42 -43°280/63 -52°

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
HOU Houston, TX departure no report just now 46 ft
IAH Houston, TX 20 nm out, 8 nm west of the line, tower no report just now 95 ft
OCH Nacogdoches, TX 119 nm out, 4 nm east of the line no report just now 343 ft
GGG Longview, TX 169 nm out, 7 nm west of the line, tower no report just now 365 ft
TXK Texarkana, AR 238 nm out, 14 nm east of the line, tower no report just now 389 ft
BBG Branson, MO 427 nm out, 10 nm east of the line, tower no report just now 1,302 ft
SGF Springfield, MO 467 nm out, 9 nm west of the line, tower no report just now 1,268 ft
COU Columbia, MO 566 nm out, 23 nm east of the line, tower no report just now 889 ft
MBY Moberly, MO 606 nm out, 4 nm east of the line no report just now 866 ft
FFL Fairfield, IA 705 nm out, 2 nm south of the line no report just now 800 ft
CID Cedar Rapids, IA destination no report just now 869 ft

The highest airport on this list sits at 1,302 ft; the ground between airports is higher still. Check the sectional chart for the terrain and the minimum safe heights along the line.

At CID when you get there the forecast at the estimated arrival, 5:33 am CDT (10:33 UTC)

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

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

  • 6/7634 CENTRALIA, MO, Monday, October 12, 2026 UTC 21 nm from the route, 586 nm along the route · a hazard on the ground (fire-fighting, a chemical spill, rescue work) · today · ZKC

Daylight

Sunset at HOU 6:54 pm CDT (23:54 UTC), at CID 6:30 pm CDT (23:30 UTC) (civil twilight ends 6:58 pm CDT (23:58 UTC)). At 120 knots the arrival at CID is before sunrise there (7:15 am CDT (12:15 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 southern Plains
Radar now, the southern Plains · loop National Weather Service
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, 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: William P Hobby Airport, The Eastern Iowa Airport.