ATIS wind: VRB16. Allowed to land?

[Joe R]

This came up in a recent discussion. Tower/ATIS reported a wind of VRB with 16 knots. Do your operators have explicit regulations in the OM-As / OM-Bs how "VRB" needs to be taken into account and whether you are allowed to land?

Best
J

[Boeingdriver999]

No written guidance in the books. Need to use your own judgement.

However if your company is punitive then give it a whirl, go-around and divert. That would be my take.

[Rt Hon Jim Hacker MP]

Did this actually occur? Never heard of a variable wind report that strong.

[Jwscud]

I have had VRB20G30 in ACE. We elected not to continue the approach…

[EXDAC]

Discussed 5 years ago and I don't know if any of the definitions have changed -

https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/38528/what-are-the-criteria-for-variable-in-metar-reports

Unless I misunderstood the discussion VRB should only be used for light winds (less than 3 kts, 6 km/h).

[poldek77]

Discussed 5 years ago and I don't know if any of the definitions have changed -

https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/38528/what-are-the-criteria-for-variable-in-metar-reports

Unless I misunderstood the discussion VRB should only be used for light winds (less than 3 kts, 6 km/h).

ICAO Annex 3 - Meteorological Service for International Air Navigation - says as below. The limit you mention, exists in b)2) only. It seems to me that the case discussed in the thread - VRB16KT - was reported according to b)3).
.4.1.5.2 In local routine reports, local special reports, METAR and SPECI:
a) the units of measurement used for the wind speed shall be indicated;
b) variations from the mean wind direction during the past 10 minutes shall be reported as follows, if the total variation is 60° or more:1) when the total variation is 60° or more and less than 180° and the wind speed is 1.5 m/s (3 kt) or more, such directional variations shall be reported as the two extreme directions between which the surface wind has varied;
2) when the total variation is 60° or more and less than 180° and the wind speed is less than 1.5 m/s (3 kt), the wind direction shall be reported as variable with no mean wind direction; or
3) when the total variation is 180° or more, the wind direction shall be reported as variable with no mean wind direction;c) variations from the mean wind speed (gusts) during the past 10 minutes shall be reported when the maximum wind speed exceeds the mean speed by:1) 2.5 m/s (5 kt) or more in local routine and special reports when noise abatement procedures are applied in accordance with the PANS-ATM (Doc 4444); or
2) 5 m/s (10 kt) or more otherwise;d) when a wind speed of less than 0.5 m/s (1 kt) is reported, it shall be indicated as calm;
e) when a wind speed of 50 m/s (100 kt) or more is reported, it shall be indicated to be more than 49 m/s (99 kt); and
f) when the 10-minute period includes a marked discontinuity in the wind direction and/or speed, only variations from the mean wind direction and mean wind speed occurring since the discontinuity shall be reported.

This came up in a recent discussion. Tower/ATIS reported a wind of VRB with 16 knots. Do your operators have explicit regulations in the OM-As / OM-Bs how "VRB" needs to be taken into account and whether you are allowed to land?

In my outfit there is no explicit regulations but generally such a wind is considered as tailwind. So landing is not allowed.

[ScepticalOptomist]

Surely a quick question asking if any tailwind component exists would be prudent.

Don’t overthink it.

[hobbit1983]

Did this actually occur? Never heard of a variable wind report that strong.

Isle of Man, 2017, "cleared to land, runway 08, wind variable at 35 knots....good luck!"

[STBYRUD]

Had this recently. Mighty unhelpful from the meteorologists to report a wind like that, when in reality there's always a prevailing direction at such speeds. I chose to try an approach, turned out to be relatively stable crosswind in that case :}