William P Hobby Airport to Lubbock Preston Smith International HOU → LBB
412 nautical miles (474 statute miles) northwest on a straight line, true course 307°, about 304° magnetic at the departure end (variation 3E). At 120 knots that is 3 h 12 min at the quickest height in today's winds (4,500 ft, a 9-knot tailwind), arriving about 7:54 am CDT (12:54 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: 401 flights in the DOT's last twelve reported months, the route's page.
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 last 98 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 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 4 forecast points nearest it (HOU, CLL, ABI, LBB). A plus sign is a headwind, a minus sign a tailwind.
| Height | Average wind | Head- or tailwind | Temperature | Ground speed | Time en route | Arrival |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4,500 ft | 190° at 24 kt | −9 kt | 20 °C | 129 kt | 3 h 12 min | 7:54 am CDT (12:54 UTC) |
| 6,500 ft | 190° at 21 kt | −8 kt | 18 °C | 128 kt | 3 h 13 min | 7:55 am CDT (12:55 UTC) |
| 8,500 ft | 200° at 13 kt | −3 kt | 16 °C | 123 kt | 3 h 21 min | 8:03 am CDT (13:03 UTC) |
| 10,500 ft | 210° at 10 kt | 0 | 11 °C | 120 kt | 3 h 26 min | 8:08 am CDT (13:08 UTC) |
| 12,500 ft | 220° at 10 kt | +1 kt | 7 °C | 119 kt | 3 h 28 min | 8:10 am CDT (13:10 UTC) |
| 14,500 ft | 230° at 13 kt | +2 kt | 2 °C | 118 kt | 3 h 29 min | 8:11 am CDT (13:11 UTC) |
| 16,500 ft | 230° at 16 kt | +4 kt | -2 °C | 116 kt | 3 h 33 min | 8:15 am CDT (13:15 UTC) |
| 18,000 ft FL180 | 230° at 18 kt | +4 kt | -6 °C | 116 kt | 3 h 33 min | 8:15 am CDT (13:15 UTC) |
| 24,000 ft FL240 | 250° at 26 kt | +15 kt | -14 °C | 105 kt | 3 h 55 min | 8:37 am CDT (13:37 UTC) |
| 30,000 ft FL300 | 260° at 32 kt | +22 kt | -29 °C | 98 kt | 4 h 12 min | 8:54 am CDT (13:54 UTC) |
| 34,000 ft FL340 | 280° at 28 kt | +26 kt | -38 °C | 94 kt | 4 h 23 min | 9:05 am CDT (14:05 UTC) |
| 39,000 ft FL390 | 310° at 28 kt | +28 kt | -51 °C | 92 kt | 4 h 29 min | 9:11 am CDT (14:11 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
| Point | From | 3,000 | 6,000 | 9,000 | 12,000 | 18,000 | 24,000 | 30,000 | 34,000 | 39,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOU | used from 0 nm out; 25 nm from the line | 180/22 | 180/20 16° | 170/7 15° | L/V 8° | 220/11 -6° | 260/15 -13° | 310/20 -30° | 320/20 -40° | 350/32 -51° |
| CLL | used from 49 nm out; 12 nm from the line | 180/24 | 170/21 19° | 180/10 14° | 230/7 8° | 230/16 -6° | 260/20 -13° | 290/23 -29° | 320/21 -39° | 340/35 -51° |
| ABI | used from 196 nm out; 60 nm from the line | 200/30 19° | 220/12 16° | 220/11 9° | 230/15 -5° | 250/26 -15° | 250/39 -28° | 270/36 -38° | 280/30 -51° | |
| LBB | used from 343 nm out; 44 nm from the line | 220/25 21° | 230/20 15° | 220/20 7° | 230/36 -6° | 240/50 -15° | 240/59 -28° | 260/52 -37° | 260/45 -50° |
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
| Airport | Where | Conditions | Wind | Visibility | Ceiling | Elevation | Reported |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOU Houston, TX | departure | no report just now | 46 ft | ||||
| DWH Houston, TX | 29 nm out, 11 nm northeast of the line, tower | no report just now | 152 ft | ||||
| CLL College Station, TX | 79 nm out, 11 nm northeast of the line, tower | no report just now | 320 ft | ||||
| RWV Caldwell, TX | 88 nm out, 4 nm west of the line | no report just now | 390 ft | ||||
| GRK Fort Hood (Killeen), TX | 157 nm out, 11 nm southwest of the line, tower | no report just now | 1,015 ft | ||||
| GOP Gatesville, TX | 167 nm out, 7 nm northeast of the line | no report just now | 905 ft | ||||
| MKN Comanche, TX | 216 nm out, 8 nm north of the line | no report just now | 1,386 ft | ||||
| ABI Abilene, TX | 285 nm out, 4 nm southeast of the line, tower | no report just now | 1,790 ft | ||||
| SWW Sweetwater, TX | 314 nm out, 21 nm southwest of the line | no report just now | 2,379 ft | ||||
| SNK Snyder, TX | 343 nm out, 23 nm southwest of the line | no report just now | 2,430 ft | ||||
| LBB Lubbock, TX | destination | no report just now | 3,282 ft |
The highest airport on this list sits at 3,282 ft; the ground between airports is higher still. Check the sectional chart for the terrain and the minimum safe heights along the line.
At LBB when you get there the forecast at the estimated arrival, 7:54 am CDT (12:54 UTC)
LBB has no terminal forecast; use the nearest airport that does.
Temporary flight restrictions on the line or within 25 nm of it
- 6/0543 MCGREGOR, TX 15 nm from the route, 157 nm along the route · security · ZFW
Daylight
Sunset at HOU 6:54 pm CDT (23:54 UTC), at LBB 7:16 pm CDT (00:16 UTC) (civil twilight ends 7:41 pm CDT (00:41 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
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, Lubbock Preston Smith International.