The U.S. aircraft register, updated daily
Plan a flight · Sun 10:09 pm CDT (03:09 UTC)

Rochester International to Albany International RST → ALB

818 nautical miles (941 statute miles) east on a straight line, true course 088°, about 089° magnetic at the departure end (variation 1W). At 120 knots that is 4 h 40 min at the quickest height in today's winds (39,000 ft, a 55-knot tailwind), arriving about 3:49 am EDT (07:49 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

  • AIRMET TANGO 3W: moderate turbulence above 18,000 ft from 21,000 ft to 33,000 ft. Over the last 229 nm of the route.
  • 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 140 nm of the route.
  • AIRMET ZULU 1C: moderate icing up to 25,000 ft. Over the last 140 nm of the route.
  • AIRMET SIERRA 4E: mountains obscured by cloud (due to mountains obscured by clouds, precipitation, mist). Over the last 110 nm of the route.
  • AIRMET TANGO 2W: moderate turbulence below 18,000 ft up to 13,000 ft. Over the last 50 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 RST.

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 7 forecast points nearest it (LSE, GRB, MKG, TVC, BUF, SYR, ALB). A plus sign is a headwind, a minus sign a tailwind.

HeightAverage windHead- or tailwindTemperatureGround speedTime en routeArrival
3,500 ft260° at 18 kt−18 kt138 kt5 h 56 min5:05 am EDT (09:05 UTC)
5,500 ft280° at 13 kt−14 kt134 kt6 h 06 min5:15 am EDT (09:15 UTC)
7,500 ft290° at 11 kt−11 kt11 °C131 kt6 h 15 min5:24 am EDT (09:24 UTC)
9,500 ft290° at 9 kt−9 kt7 °C129 kt6 h 20 min5:29 am EDT (09:29 UTC)
11,500 ft280° at 10 kt−10 kt4 °C130 kt6 h 18 min5:27 am EDT (09:27 UTC)
13,500 ft290° at 13 kt−13 kt0 °C133 kt6 h 09 min5:18 am EDT (09:18 UTC)
15,500 ft290° at 17 kt−17 kt-5 °C137 kt5 h 58 min5:07 am EDT (09:07 UTC)
17,500 ft290° at 21 kt−20 kt-9 °C140 kt5 h 51 min5:00 am EDT (09:00 UTC)
18,000 ft FL180290° at 22 kt−21 kt-10 °C141 kt5 h 48 min4:57 am EDT (08:57 UTC)
24,000 ft FL240280° at 27 kt−26 kt-22 °C146 kt5 h 36 min4:45 am EDT (08:45 UTC)
30,000 ft FL300290° at 35 kt−34 kt-36 °C154 kt5 h 19 min4:28 am EDT (08:28 UTC)
34,000 ft FL340290° at 40 kt−39 kt-44 °C159 kt5 h 09 min4:18 am EDT (08:18 UTC)
39,000 ft FL390280° at 56 kt−55 kt-52 °C175 kt4 h 40 min3:49 am EDT (07:49 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
LSEused from 0 nm out; 29 nm from the line230/40240/24 17°240/13 10°250/13 6°280/22 -9°250/28 -21°250/41 -34°260/42 -44°270/62 -53°
GRBused from 150 nm out; 37 nm from the line250/36270/23 16°270/14 9°240/18 4°280/26 -9°280/29 -20°290/42 -36°290/51 -45°290/72 -55°
MKGused from 249 nm out; 42 nm from the line260/22290/16 15°300/11 10°290/5 3°300/26 -9°300/32 -20°320/48 -36°320/61 -45°310/74 -53°
TVCused from 299 nm out; 61 nm from the line260/31280/22 15°290/18 10°270/13 2°290/25 -10°300/35 -21°310/52 -37°320/59 -47°300/84 -54°
BUFused from 449 nm out; 131 nm from the line320/10010/16 10°360/10 6°340/13 2°330/22 -11°300/25 -23°320/31 -38°300/29 -44°280/36 -50°
SYRused from 648 nm out; 41 nm from the line280/13350/18 10°340/10 6°300/15 1°280/17 -12°270/16 -23°280/25 -38°250/40 -42°240/53 -50°
ALBused from 748 nm out; 45 nm from the line120/9270/8 10°L/V 5°260/9 1°260/34 -10°250/42 -22°240/57 -35°240/70 -42°240/65 -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

AirportWhereConditionsWindVisibilityCeilingElevationReported
RST Rochester, MN departure no report just now 1,317 ft
CMY Sparta, WI 80 nm out, 4 nm northwest of the line, tower no report just now 839 ft
DAF Necedah, WI 100 nm out, 8 nm northeast of the line no report just now 919 ft
OSH Oshkosh, WI 170 nm out, 4 nm north of the line, tower no report just now 808 ft
LDM Ludington, MI 259 nm out, 7 nm northeast of the line no report just now 646 ft
MBS Saginaw, MI 369 nm out, 15 nm south of the line, tower no report just now 668 ft
BAX Bad Axe, MI 409 nm out, 5 nm northeast of the line no report just now 763 ft
CYTZ Toronto, 568 nm out, 12 nm north of the line no report just now 251 ft
ROC Rochester, NY 648 nm out, 8 nm south of the line, tower no report just now 558 ft
SYR Syracuse, NY 718 nm out, 5 nm northwest of the line, tower no report just now 421 ft
RME Rome, NY 748 nm out, 16 nm north of the line, tower no report just now 504 ft
ALB Albany, NY destination no report just now 284 ft

The highest airport on this list sits at 1,317 ft; the ground between airports is higher still. Check the sectional chart for the terrain and the minimum safe heights along the line.

At ALB when you get there the forecast at the estimated arrival, 3:49 am EDT (07:49 UTC)

ALB 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 RST 6:31 pm CDT (23:31 UTC), at ALB 6:18 pm EDT (22:18 UTC) (civil twilight ends 6:46 pm EDT (22:46 UTC)). At 120 knots the arrival at ALB is before sunrise there (7:04 am EDT (11:04 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 central Great Lakes
Radar now, the central Great Lakes · loop National Weather Service
Radar now, the Northeast
Radar now, the Northeast · 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: Rochester International, Albany International.