The U.S. aircraft register, updated daily
Plan a flight · Sun 8:39 pm CDT (01:39 UTC)

Chicago O'Hare International to Yampa Valley Airport ORD → HDN

875 nautical miles (1,007 statute miles) west on a straight line, true course 271°, about 274° magnetic at the departure end (variation 3W). At 120 knots that is 7 h 57 min at the quickest height in today's winds (4,500 ft, a 10-knot headwind), arriving about 3:36 am MDT (09:36 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: 352 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

  • SIGMET 1W: thunderstorms (a convective SIGMET) up to 34,000 ft, moving from the southwest at 40 knots, until 9:55 pm CDT (02:55 UTC). Over the last 0 nm of the route.
    as issued
    WSUS33 KKCI 120055
    MKCW WST 120055
    CONVECTIVE SIGMET 1W
    VALID UNTIL 0255Z
    CO NM WY AZ UT
    FROM 40NNW CHE-40WNW TBE-60WNW CME-40N SJN-40ESE MTU-40NNW CHE
    AREA SEV TS MOV FROM 23040KT. TOPS TO FL340.
    WIND GUSTS TO 60KT POSS.
  • 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 route from 199 to 417 nm out.
  • AIRMET TANGO 4W: moderate turbulence above 18,000 ft from 18,000 ft to 36,000 ft. Over the last 189 nm of the route.
  • AIRMET TANGO 4W: moderate turbulence below 18,000 ft up to 18,000 ft. Over the last 169 nm of the route.
  • AIRMET TANGO 1W: 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 80 nm of the route.
  • AIRMET SIERRA 1E: mountains obscured by cloud (due to mountains obscured by clouds, precipitation, mist). Near the route, 835 nm along 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 ORD.

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 7 forecast points nearest it (JOT, DBQ, DSM, OMA, GRI, BFF, DEN). A plus sign is a headwind, a minus sign a tailwind.

HeightAverage windHead- or tailwindTemperatureGround speedTime en routeArrival
4,500 ft200° at 21 kt+10 kt19 °C110 kt7 h 57 min3:36 am MDT (09:36 UTC)
6,500 ft220° at 20 kt+13 kt17 °C107 kt8 h 11 min3:50 am MDT (09:50 UTC)
8,500 ft220° at 21 kt+16 kt13 °C104 kt8 h 25 min4:04 am MDT (10:04 UTC)
10,500 ft230° at 20 kt+17 kt9 °C103 kt8 h 30 min4:09 am MDT (10:09 UTC)
12,500 ft240° at 19 kt+17 kt5 °C103 kt8 h 30 min4:09 am MDT (10:09 UTC)
14,500 ft240° at 21 kt+20 kt1 °C100 kt8 h 45 min4:24 am MDT (10:24 UTC)
16,500 ft250° at 22 kt+22 kt-4 °C98 kt8 h 56 min4:35 am MDT (10:35 UTC)
18,000 ft FL180250° at 24 kt+24 kt-7 °C96 kt9 h 07 min4:46 am MDT (10:46 UTC)
24,000 ft FL240250° at 31 kt+31 kt-19 °C89 kt9 h 50 min5:29 am MDT (11:29 UTC)
30,000 ft FL300260° at 37 kt+38 kt-33 °C82 kt10 h 40 min6:19 am MDT (12:19 UTC)
34,000 ft FL340270° at 47 kt+48 kt-41 °C72 kt12 h 09 min7:48 am MDT (13:48 UTC)
39,000 ft FL390280° at 58 kt+58 kt-50 °C62 kt14 h 07 min9:46 am MDT (15:46 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
JOTused from 0 nm out; 31 nm from the line230/11290/12 16°300/19 10°320/19 4°300/17 -9°330/31 -20°320/49 -37°320/53 -45°320/67 -49°
DBQused from 50 nm out; 56 nm from the line220/23240/22 16°240/24 10°260/18 5°270/16 -8°290/27 -19°310/42 -35°320/55 -44°300/71 -52°
DSMused from 199 nm out; 40 nm from the line200/32240/27 17°260/19 10°260/16 5°260/19 -7°240/22 -19°270/20 -32°270/38 -42°290/58 -53°
OMAused from 298 nm out; 45 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°
GRIused from 398 nm out; 60 nm from the line210/31 19°240/21 14°240/17 6°260/27 -7°260/34 -18°240/45 -32°250/56 -40°260/62 -51°
BFFused from 596 nm out; 92 nm from the line120/24180/31 13°210/26 7°230/25 -7°240/41 -20°230/52 -36°250/56 -41°260/57 -45°
DENused from 745 nm out; 60 nm from the line190/31 16°210/32 7°240/41 -8°230/47 -21°240/56 -32°250/65 -37°250/61 -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
ORD Chicago, IL departure no report just now 680 ft
DPA Chicago/West Chicago, IL 20 nm out, 6 nm southeast of the line, tower no report just now 758 ft
CID Cedar Rapids, IA 169 nm out, 4 nm south of the line, tower no report just now 869 ft
DSM Des Moines, IA 258 nm out, 20 nm south of the line, tower no report just now 957 ft
PRO Perry, IA 278 nm out, 2 nm southwest of the line no report just now 1,013 ft
TQE Tekamah, NE 368 nm out, 2 nm northwest of the line no report just now 1,026 ft
ODX Ord, NE 497 nm out, 6 nm north of the line no report just now 2,070 ft
BBW Broken Bow, NE 527 nm out, 2 nm south of the line no report just now 2,546 ft
SNY Sidney, NE 676 nm out, 3 nm west of the line no report just now 4,314 ft
CYS Cheyenne, WY 755 nm out, 18 nm northwest of the line, tower no report just now 6,159 ft
SBS Steamboat Springs, CO 855 nm out, 4 nm southwest of the line no report just now 6,882 ft
HDN Hayden, CO destination no report just now 6,606 ft

The highest airport on this list sits at 6,882 ft; the ground between airports is higher still. Check the sectional chart for the terrain and the minimum safe heights along the line.

At HDN when you get there the forecast at the estimated arrival, 3:36 am MDT (09:36 UTC)

HDN 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 ORD 6:15 pm CDT (23:15 UTC), at HDN 6:33 pm MDT (00:33 UTC) (civil twilight ends 7:01 pm MDT (01:01 UTC)). At 120 knots the arrival at HDN is before sunrise there (7:16 am MDT (13:16 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 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 now, the southern Rockies
Radar now, the southern 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: Chicago O'Hare International, Yampa Valley Airport.