Medium Regional Airport • Rapid City, SD, United States
Elevation: 3,276 ft (999 m) • 44.1450, -103.1040
Ellsworth Air Force Base (KRCA / RCA) is a medium regional airport serving Rapid City, SD, United States, situated at an elevation of 3,276 ft (999 m) above sea level. Local magnetic variation is 6.9° East. The airport has 2 runways, with the longest measuring 13,497 feet.
| Designator | Length | Width | Surface | Heading |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | 13,497 ft | 300 ft | Concrete | 138° |
| 31 | 13,497 ft | 300 ft | Concrete | 318° |
METAR (Meteorological Aerodrome Report) is the standard format for reporting current weather conditions at airports worldwide. Issued every 30–60 minutes, it includes wind direction and speed, visibility, sky condition and cloud heights, temperature, dewpoint, and altimeter setting. Special METARs (SPECI) are issued when conditions change significantly.
TAF (Terminal Aerodrome Forecast) provides a weather forecast for the area within 5 nautical miles of an airport, valid for 24–30 hours. Issued every 6 hours by national weather services, TAFs use FM (from), TEMPO (temporary), BECMG (becoming), and PROB (probability) groups to describe changing conditions.
Flight Categories: VFR ceiling >3,000 ft & vis >5 SM MVFR 1,000–3,000 ft or 3–5 SM IFR 500–1,000 ft or 1–3 SM LIFR <500 ft or <1 SM