The U.S. aircraft register, updated daily
Plan a flight · Sun 8:02 pm CDT (01:02 UTC)

William P Hobby Airport to Joe Foss Field HOU → FSD

840 nautical miles (966 statute miles) north on a straight line, true course 356°, about 353° magnetic at the departure end (variation 3E). At 120 knots that is 5 h 52 min at the quickest height in today's winds (4,500 ft, a 23-knot tailwind), arriving about 1:54 am CDT (06:54 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: 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

No SIGMET or AIRMET covers any part of this route right now.

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 20:00–03:00 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 9 forecast points nearest it (HOU, CLL, DAL, FSM, TUL, ICT, SLN, OMA, FSD). A plus sign is a headwind, a minus sign a tailwind.

HeightAverage windHead- or tailwindTemperatureGround speedTime en routeArrival
4,500 ft200° at 25 kt−23 kt143 kt5 h 52 min1:54 am CDT (06:54 UTC)
6,500 ft210° at 25 kt−19 kt16 °C139 kt6 h 03 min2:05 am CDT (07:05 UTC)
8,500 ft230° at 23 kt−13 kt13 °C133 kt6 h 19 min2:21 am CDT (07:21 UTC)
10,500 ft240° at 20 kt−10 kt10 °C130 kt6 h 28 min2:30 am CDT (07:30 UTC)
12,500 ft240° at 18 kt−7 kt6 °C127 kt6 h 37 min2:39 am CDT (07:39 UTC)
14,500 ft250° at 20 kt−7 kt2 °C127 kt6 h 37 min2:39 am CDT (07:39 UTC)
16,500 ft250° at 21 kt−6 kt-3 °C126 kt6 h 40 min2:42 am CDT (07:42 UTC)
18,000 ft FL180250° at 22 kt−6 kt-6 °C126 kt6 h 40 min2:42 am CDT (07:42 UTC)
24,000 ft FL240250° at 24 kt−6 kt-16 °C126 kt6 h 40 min2:42 am CDT (07:42 UTC)
30,000 ft FL300270° at 33 kt+2 kt-30 °C118 kt7 h 07 min3:09 am CDT (08:09 UTC)
34,000 ft FL340270° at 38 kt+4 kt-40 °C116 kt7 h 14 min3:16 am CDT (08:16 UTC)
39,000 ft FL390280° at 41 kt+10 kt-52 °C110 kt7 h 38 min3:40 am CDT (08:40 UTC)

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; 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 line160/18160/14 17°180/19 12°190/11 8°260/12 -4°260/14 -13°310/26 -30°310/30 -40°320/21 -52°
CLLused from 50 nm out; 53 nm from the line160/18190/18 16°200/19 12°220/14 7°260/18 -5°250/20 -13°290/29 -29°290/31 -40°300/22 -53°
DALused from 150 nm out; 68 nm from the line180/21190/24 15°230/20 12°220/23 8°240/22 -5°230/18 -15°280/33 -29°280/36 -39°300/33 -52°
FSMused from 250 nm out; 94 nm from the line200/18210/19 15°230/22 13°250/18 7°270/20 -5°280/24 -16°280/35 -30°290/37 -40°300/40 -52°
TULused from 300 nm out; 70 nm from the line200/27210/28 15°240/24 13°250/19 8°250/28 -6°260/25 -16°270/34 -30°280/41 -39°280/41 -52°
ICTused from 450 nm out; 67 nm from the line190/34210/34 18°240/28 13°260/23 7°250/23 -6°240/29 -17°260/40 -30°260/47 -40°270/42 -51°
SLNused from 550 nm out; 71 nm from the line190/37220/39 20°240/31 14°250/24 7°260/25 -7°250/26 -17°250/44 -31°260/47 -40°260/47 -50°
OMAused from 600 nm out; 80 nm from the line190/34230/34 19°250/25 12°250/18 6°250/22 -7°250/28 -19°260/34 -32°260/39 -41°280/56 -51°
FSDused from 750 nm out; 65 nm from the line200/16220/20 17°240/26 13°230/19 6°240/25 -9°240/28 -20°250/39 -33°250/44 -43°260/63 -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, 2 nm west of the line, tower no report just now 95 ft
TYR Tyler, TX 160 nm out, 7 nm northeast of the line, tower no report just now 543 ft
GVT Greenville, TX 210 nm out, 24 nm west of the line, tower no report just now 534 ft
MLC Mc Alester, OK 320 nm out, 4 nm south of the line no report just now 770 ft
TUL Tulsa, OK 390 nm out, 5 nm north of the line, tower no report just now 677 ft
BVO Bartlesville, OK 430 nm out, 3 nm southwest of the line no report just now 716 ft
MHK Manhattan, KS 570 nm out, 22 nm west of the line, tower no report just now 1,066 ft
MYZ Marysville, KS 620 nm out, 16 nm west of the line no report just now 1,283 ft
LNK Lincoln, NE 680 nm out, 16 nm west of the line, tower no report just now 1,218 ft
SUX Sioux City, IA 770 nm out, 9 nm east 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, 1:54 am CDT (06:54 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 HOU 6:54 pm CDT (23:54 UTC), at FSD 6:49 pm CDT (23:49 UTC) (civil twilight ends 7:17 pm CDT (00:17 UTC)). At 120 knots the arrival at FSD is before sunrise there (7:37 am CDT (12:37 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 northern Rockies
Radar now, the northern Rockies · 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, Joe Foss Field.