The U.S. aircraft register, updated daily
Plan a flight · Sun 9:11 pm CDT (02:11 UTC)

Waukegan Ntl Airport to Los Angeles International UGN → LAX

1,519 nautical miles (1,748 statute miles) west on a straight line, true course 261°, about 264° magnetic at the departure end (variation 3W). At 120 knots that is 14 h 54 min at the quickest height in today's winds (4,500 ft, a 18-knot headwind), arriving about 10:05 am PDT (17:05 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: 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

  • SIGMET 6W: thunderstorms (a convective SIGMET) up to 34,000 ft, moving from the southwest at 40 knots, until 10:55 pm CDT (03:55 UTC). Over the route from 809 to 979 nm out.
    as issued
    WSUS33 KKCI 120155
    MKCW WST 120155
    CONVECTIVE SIGMET 6W
    VALID UNTIL 0355Z
    CO NM
    FROM 50SSW DEN-30NNE TBE-50SSW CME-50E SJN-20NE DVC-50SSW DEN
    AREA TS MOV FROM 23040KT. TOPS TO FL340.
  • 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 220 to 649 nm out.
  • AIRMET TANGO 4W: moderate turbulence below 18,000 ft up to 18,000 ft. Over the route from 719 to 1309 nm out.
  • AIRMET TANGO 4W: moderate turbulence above 18,000 ft from 18,000 ft to 36,000 ft. Over the route from 739 to 1259 nm out.
  • 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 route from 829 to 999 nm out.
  • AIRMET SIERRA 1E: mountains obscured by cloud (due to mountains obscured by clouds, precipitation, mist). Over the route from 829 to 939 nm out.
  • AIRMET SIERRA 1E: mountains obscured by cloud (due to mountains obscured by clouds, precipitation, mist). Over the route from 1039 to 1309 nm out.
  • AIRMET ZULU 3C: moderate icing up to 22,000 ft. Over the route from 1059 to 1419 nm out.
  • AIRMET SIERRA 2E: low cloud or poor visibility (IFR conditions) (due to ceilings below 1,000 ft, visibility below 3 miles, precipitation, mist). Over the route from 1159 to 1279 nm out.
  • AIRMET TANGO 1W: moderate turbulence below 18,000 ft (due to mountain wave) up to 12,000 ft. Over the route from 1319 to 1499 nm out.
  • AIRMET SIERRA 6E: mountains obscured by cloud (due to mountains obscured by clouds, precipitation, mist). Over the last 80 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 UGN.

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 15 forecast points nearest it (JOT, DBQ, DSM, OMA, GRI, GLD, DEN, PUB, ALS, GJT, FMN, BCE, PRC, LAS, ONT). A plus sign is a headwind, a minus sign a tailwind.

HeightAverage windHead- or tailwindTemperatureGround speedTime en routeArrival
4,500 ft210° at 24 kt+18 kt15 °C102 kt14 h 54 min10:05 am PDT (17:05 UTC)
6,500 ft220° at 23 kt+20 kt14 °C100 kt15 h 11 min10:22 am PDT (17:22 UTC)
8,500 ft220° at 24 kt+21 kt11 °C99 kt15 h 21 min10:32 am PDT (17:32 UTC)
10,500 ft220° at 26 kt+24 kt7 °C96 kt15 h 49 min11:00 am PDT (18:00 UTC)
12,500 ft230° at 26 kt+25 kt3 °C95 kt15 h 59 min11:10 am PDT (18:10 UTC)
14,500 ft230° at 29 kt+27 kt-1 °C93 kt16 h 20 min11:31 am PDT (18:31 UTC)
16,500 ft230° at 31 kt+30 kt-6 °C90 kt16 h 53 min12:04 pm PDT (19:04 UTC)
18,000 ft FL180230° at 33 kt+32 kt-9 °C88 kt17 h 16 min12:27 pm PDT (19:27 UTC)
24,000 ft FL240230° at 37 kt+36 kt-20 °C84 kt18 h 05 min1:16 pm PDT (20:16 UTC)
30,000 ft FL300240° at 46 kt+46 kt-30 °C74 kt20 h 32 min3:43 pm PDT (22:43 UTC)
34,000 ft FL340240° at 50 kt+52 kt-38 °C68 kt22 h 20 min5:31 pm PDT (00:31 UTC)
39,000 ft FL390250° at 53 kt+55 kt-48 °C65 kt23 h 22 min6:33 pm PDT (01:33 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; 51 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; 54 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 200 nm out; 39 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 300 nm out; 41 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 400 nm out; 54 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°
GLDused from 550 nm out; 82 nm from the line190/29200/30 15°240/23 8°250/39 -7°230/39 -19°230/57 -31°240/67 -39°250/62 -49°
DENused from 699 nm out; 68 nm from the line190/31 16°210/32 7°240/41 -8°230/47 -21°240/56 -32°250/65 -37°250/61 -47°
PUBused from 799 nm out; 51 nm from the line210/24 16°210/28 8°230/43 -8°240/42 -21°240/77 -30°240/72 -36°250/51 -47°
ALSused from 849 nm out; 68 nm from the line210/32 5°230/48 -8°230/49 -20°230/78 -30°240/74 -36°240/61 -47°
GJTused from 899 nm out; 79 nm from the line210/40 11°210/46 3°210/61 -10°210/68 -22°220/57 -29°230/59 -36°240/66 -46°
FMNused from 949 nm out; 68 nm from the line220/25 13°220/28 4°210/51 -9°220/59 -21°230/78 -30°230/77 -36°230/66 -46°
BCEused from 1049 nm out; 95 nm from the line210/47 0°200/50 -12°220/31 -23°220/56 -26°220/58 -35°230/58 -45°
PRCused from 1199 nm out; 97 nm from the line200/36 6°210/46 0°220/60 -10°220/75 -19°220/66 -26°230/70 -33°230/59 -45°
LASused from 1249 nm out; 59 nm from the line200/25 11°230/22 5°240/25 -1°220/37 -12°220/44 -21°210/52 -27°210/60 -34°220/58 -44°
ONTused from 1399 nm out; 58 nm from the line230/11200/17 6°230/27 4°230/32 -2°210/39 -12°220/51 -20°220/48 -29°210/51 -34°210/52 -44°

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
UGN Chicago/Waukegan, IL departure no report just now 728 ft
RFD Chicago/Rockford, IL 60 nm out, 6 nm southeast of the line, tower no report just now 742 ft
DSM Des Moines, IA 260 nm out, 4 nm southwest of the line, tower no report just now 957 ft
LNK Lincoln, NE 410 nm out, 7 nm south of the line, tower no report just now 1,218 ft
GRI Grand Island, NE 480 nm out, 20 nm north of the line, tower no report just now 1,847 ft
LIC Limon, CO 739 nm out, 2 nm southwest of the line no report just now 5,374 ft
COS Colorado Springs, CO 799 nm out, 11 nm southeast of the line, tower no report just now 6,187 ft
TEX Telluride, CO 959 nm out, 5 nm east of the line no report just now 9,069 ft
PGA Page, AZ 1139 nm out, 9 nm north of the line no report just now 4,316 ft
IFP Bullhead City, AZ 1319 nm out, 24 nm southeast of the line, tower no report just now 707 ft
EMT El Monte, CA 1499 nm out, 1 nm southeast of the line, tower no report just now 295 ft
LAX Los Angeles, CA destination no report just now 127 ft

The highest airport on this list sits at 9,069 ft; the ground between airports is higher still. Check the sectional chart for the terrain and the minimum safe heights along the line.

At LAX when you get there the forecast at the estimated arrival, 10:05 am PDT (17:05 UTC)

LAX has no terminal forecast; use the nearest airport that does.

Temporary flight restrictions on the line or within 25 nm of it

  • 6/8770 COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, Saturday, October 10, 2026 through Monday, October 12, 2026 UTC 4 nm from the route, 799 nm along the route · a hazard on the ground (fire-fighting, a chemical spill, rescue work) · until 12 October · ZDV
  • 6/8784 LAKE GEORGE, CO, Sunday, October 11, 2026 through Tuesday, October 13, 2026 UTC 8 nm from the route, 819 nm along the route · a hazard on the ground (fire-fighting, a chemical spill, rescue work) · until 13 October · ZDV
  • 6/8891 Bullhead City, AZ, Wednesday, October 14, 2026 Local 14 nm from the route, 1319 nm along the route · a VIP movement · starts Wednesday 14 October · ZLA
  • 6/8890 LAS VEGAS, NV, Tuesday, October 13, 2026 Local 11 nm from the route, 1319 nm along the route · a VIP movement · starts tomorrow · ZLA
  • 4/3635 DISNEYLAND THEME PARK, ANAHEIM,, CA 16 nm from the route, at the destination end · security · ZLA

Daylight

Sunset at UGN 6:14 pm CDT (23:14 UTC), at LAX 6:23 pm PDT (01:23 UTC) (civil twilight ends 6:48 pm PDT (01:48 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: Waukegan Ntl Airport, Los Angeles International.