The U.S. aircraft register, updated daily
Plan a flight · Mon 1:32 am CDT (06:32 UTC)

Valley International to Gary/Chicago International HRL → GYY

1,054 nautical miles (1,213 statute miles) northeast on a straight line, true course 026°, about 023° magnetic at the departure end (variation 3E). At 120 knots that is 7 h 42 min at the quickest height in today's winds (3,500 ft, a 17-knot tailwind), arriving about 9:14 am CDT (14:14 UTC). Right now HRL is VFR, wind from the southeast (130°) at 5 knots; GYY is VFR, wind from the south (190°) at 6 knots. 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: 20 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 SIERRA 3E: 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 HRL.

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 11 forecast points nearest it (BRO, CRP, PSX, HOU, CLL, SHV, LIT, CGI, STL, SPI, JOT). A plus sign is a headwind, a minus sign a tailwind.

HeightAverage windHead- or tailwindTemperatureGround speedTime en routeArrival
3,500 ft210° at 17 kt−17 kt137 kt7 h 42 min9:14 am CDT (14:14 UTC)
5,500 ft210° at 16 kt−16 kt136 kt7 h 45 min9:17 am CDT (14:17 UTC)
7,500 ft230° at 16 kt−15 kt14 °C135 kt7 h 48 min9:20 am CDT (14:20 UTC)
9,500 ft240° at 15 kt−14 kt11 °C134 kt7 h 52 min9:24 am CDT (14:24 UTC)
11,500 ft250° at 12 kt−9 kt8 °C129 kt8 h 10 min9:42 am CDT (14:42 UTC)
13,500 ft250° at 12 kt−8 kt4 °C128 kt8 h 14 min9:46 am CDT (14:46 UTC)
15,500 ft260° at 12 kt−8 kt0 °C128 kt8 h 14 min9:46 am CDT (14:46 UTC)
17,500 ft270° at 13 kt−8 kt-4 °C128 kt8 h 14 min9:46 am CDT (14:46 UTC)
18,000 ft FL180270° at 14 kt−7 kt-5 °C127 kt8 h 18 min9:50 am CDT (14:50 UTC)
24,000 ft FL240270° at 18 kt−9 kt-16 °C129 kt8 h 10 min9:42 am CDT (14:42 UTC)
30,000 ft FL300300° at 26 kt−1 kt-31 °C121 kt8 h 43 min10:15 am CDT (15:15 UTC)
34,000 ft FL340300° at 33 kt−1 kt-41 °C121 kt8 h 43 min10:15 am CDT (15:15 UTC)
39,000 ft FL390310° at 36 kt+4 kt-52 °C116 kt9 h 05 min10:37 am CDT (15:37 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
BROused from 0 nm out; 42 nm from the line150/22160/18 18°160/13 14°150/9 10°050/5 -3°L/V -15°100/13 -29°120/15 -40°080/9 -52°
CRPused from 50 nm out; 36 nm from the line150/24180/19 19°190/13 14°200/14 9°230/5 -4°170/6 -14°360/6 -29°L/V -40°350/18 -52°
PSXused from 99 nm out; 43 nm from the line160/24160/23 19°180/14 15°210/11 9°240/8 -4°250/8 -13°320/14 -29°300/16 -40°340/17 -51°
HOUused from 199 nm out; 26 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 298 nm out; 80 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 348 nm out; 52 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°
LITused from 497 nm out; 62 nm from the line220/21230/17 16°250/24 12°260/15 7°260/13 -5°280/25 -16°290/35 -30°300/42 -40°300/40 -52°
CGIused from 696 nm out; 76 nm from the line240/20270/15 15°280/15 11°300/13 6°290/20 -6°280/24 -18°300/34 -32°300/47 -41°310/49 -51°
STLused from 795 nm out; 32 nm from the line250/24250/24 16°260/23 9°270/16 6°260/25 -6°270/29 -19°290/34 -33°290/48 -41°290/54 -51°
SPIused from 895 nm out; 35 nm from the line220/21250/23 16°260/27 9°270/14 6°270/23 -7°270/31 -19°270/28 -33°290/48 -42°300/55 -52°
JOTused from 944 nm out; 67 nm from the line250/23270/22 15°250/16 10°240/9 4°280/22 -7°280/29 -19°300/29 -34°290/50 -43°300/64 -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
HRL Harlingen, TX departure VFR from the southeast (130°) at 5 knots 10+ mi none 36 ft 12:52 am CDT (05:52 UTC)
RAS Port Aransas, TX 99 nm out, 15 nm northwest of the line VFR Sky: scattered clouds at 2,400 feet, scattered clouds at 3,300 feet, scattered clouds at 4,200 feet from the southeast (130°) at 12 knots, gusting to 16 10+ mi none 5 ft 06:15 UTC
PSX Palacios, TX 169 nm out, 1 nm southwest of the line VFR from the southeast (130°) at 8 knots 10+ mi none 14 ft 05:53 UTC
SGR Houston, TX 229 nm out, 4 nm east of the line, tower VFR from the east-southeast (110°) at 4 knots 10+ mi none 81 ft 05:53 UTC
LFK Lufkin, TX 338 nm out, 1 nm south of the line VFR from the southeast (140°) at 3 knots 10+ mi none 295 ft 05:53 UTC
SHV Shreveport, LA 427 nm out, 9 nm southeast of the line, tower VFR from the south-southwest (210°) at 7 knots 10+ mi none 257 ft 05:56 UTC
LIT Little Rock, AR 586 nm out, 14 nm southeast of the line, tower VFR Sky: a few clouds at 25,000 feet from the west (280°) at 5 knots 10+ mi none 266 ft 05:53 UTC
CVK Ash Flat, AR 676 nm out, 4 nm north of the line no report just now 717 ft
BLV Belleville, IL 835 nm out, 3 nm northeast of the line, tower VFR from the south-southwest (200°) at 5 knots 10+ mi none 459 ft 05:55 UTC
DEC Decatur, IL 924 nm out, 4 nm northeast of the line, tower VFR from the south-southwest (210°) at 8 knots 10+ mi none 681 ft 05:54 UTC
CMI Champaign/Urbana, IL 954 nm out, 16 nm southeast of the line, tower VFR from the south-southwest (200°) at 6 knots 10+ mi none 754 ft 05:53 UTC
GYY Gary/Chicago, IN destination VFR from the south (190°) at 6 knots 10+ mi none 596 ft 1:15 am CDT (06:15 UTC)

The highest airport on this list sits at 754 ft; the ground between airports is higher still. Check the sectional chart for the terrain and the minimum safe heights along the line.

At GYY when you get there the forecast at the estimated arrival, 9:14 am CDT (14:14 UTC)

Wind from the south at 5 knots, visibility more than 6 miles, scattered clouds at 25,000 feet VFR

The whole forecast for GYY
  • From Mon 1:00 am CDT (06:00 UTC): wind from the south at 5 knots, visibility more than 6 miles, scattered clouds at 25,000 feet
  • From Mon 12:00 pm CDT (17:00 UTC): wind from the south-southwest at 12 knots, gusting to 23, visibility more than 6 miles, a few clouds at 25,000 feet
  • From Mon 7:00 pm CDT (00:00 UTC): wind from the southwest at 11 knots, visibility more than 6 miles, a few clouds at 12,000 feet
The forecast for HRL, the departure
  • From Mon 1:00 am CDT (06:00 UTC): wind light and variable, visibility more than 6 miles, a few clouds at 2,500 feet
  • From Mon 9:00 am CDT (14:00 UTC): wind from the south-southeast at 7 knots, visibility more than 6 miles, a few clouds at 25,000 feet
  • From Mon 1:00 pm CDT (18:00 UTC): wind from the south-southeast at 12 knots, gusting to 20, visibility more than 6 miles, scattered clouds at 7,000 feet
  • From Mon 9:00 pm CDT (02:00 UTC): wind from the southeast at 9 knots, visibility more than 6 miles, a few clouds at 7,000 feet

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 HRL 7:04 pm CDT (00:04 UTC), at GYY 6:13 pm CDT (23:13 UTC) (civil twilight ends 6:41 pm CDT (23:41 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

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: Valley International, Gary/Chicago International.