IMHO, a few questions in mind came up after reading this thread:
1. Were there any other aircraft that landed in that time period, what was their report, if any?
2. My idea of circling approaches is , its usually done in "special VFR" conditions, and wouldn't it be prudent to circle to land from another direction, instead of repositioning into the **** you just came out of a few seconds ago?
3. Is it wise to seek landing conditions reports from the Ground controller? Or was it the ground Company ops controller?
4. Seems like a shortage of fuel situation leading to "Press Syndrome"
5. To me, this would be a good situation to use auto-pilot , instead of hand flying it, I think the work-load in poor conditions and turbulence seems "hairy"
5. I think its not caused by any isolated reason, all that has contributed points are valid,and more so when consolidated together, plus fatigue, plus personal issues etc...
...oh, the questions will go on and on, I'll stop here for now, thanks for this thread, I've learnt much.