Narrative:

I was the captain and pm during this flight. We were descending via the arrival. Due to some enroute deviation for weather; we were anticipating landing with 3700lb at ZZZ. As weather started moving into the ZZZ area; ATC began issuing us vectors off route and started giving holding instructions to other aircraft on the arrival. ATC began rerouting aircraft to a north arrival for which I determined that we didn't have enough fuel to accept. As the off route vectors continued I queried ATC about holding for us. I was developing a diversion plan for ZZZ1 and working on our bingo fuel and trying to get the weather for ZZZ1. During this time the first officer was flying the aircraft; navigating through cells. I told dispatch via ACARS that we needed a diversion alternate. We got no reply from dispatch. I declared min fuel when we were projecting 3000 pounds fob at ZZZ. At which time approach told us it would be approximately an hour before they could accept us. At that time I made the decision to turn to ZZZ1. As we made the turn we realized we would be landing with ~2000 pounds fob at ZZZ1. I felt that in the interest of safety I needed a closer airport and with atcs assistance decided on ZZZ2 due to runway length; weather; and proximity. Throughout the entire time once we began receiving delay vectors; we were not able to reach dispatch through ACARS or radio. I decided that if I was going to land at ZZZ1 with 2000 pounds fob; then I would be declaring an emergency and if I declared an emergency; I would never overfly a suitable airport. I understand that ZZZ2 is not in our ops specs; but I deemed it the safest option at the time. I could not see where the weather was in relation to ZZZ1 and was unwilling to risk flying there only to meet significant weather. We were handed off to center who gave us the unicom frequency at ZZZ2. The tower was closed at the time and we made multiple calls to unicom during the visual approach. The first officer landed the aircraft at ZZZ2 without incident. On the ground there was some difficulty getting in contact with the airport authorities and getting the aircraft fueled; but the majority of the time was spent waiting on the weather to pass through the area so that fueling could resume. Additionally; there were complications with the fueling due to the fueler not having experience with our aircraft. Dispatch paperwork and ZZZ2 charts were sent via email to my company ipad and shared with first officer. On the ground at ZZZ2; I was in constant communication with dispatch via cell phone and we were developing a plan to avoid breaking DOT tdp limitations. A cell passed through the area at around 1 hour after landing which prevented us from attempting fueling for 40-50 minutes. We opened the tarmac delay kit around 2 hours after landing. ZZZ2 tower was working to find airstairs in the event we needed to deplane. At 2.5 hours after landing; we determined that we needed to have means to deplane the passengers if any wanted to leave. Tower had arranged for airstairs but we still had no transportation / shelter arrangements for passengers should they deplane. The fueling was accomplished properly with coordination with maintenance control and the local fuel service. Initially there was a fuel imbalance of approximately 3000 pounds upon completion of fueling; but through maintenance control we accomplished a fuel transfer procedure that rectified the imbalance. The fueling was completed around 2.5 hours and the imbalance was rectified. I made the announcement around after landing that if passengers wanted to deplane we would accommodated that; but we were also 20 minutes from taking off - as we had the fuel on board and we were ready to proceed. No passengers elected to deplane at that time. We started engines; took off and proceeded to ZZZ without any further difficulties. The rest of the crew did an outstanding job. The first officer flew well and was able to manage multiple tasks while I was off frequency and trying to develop our diversion plan. His judgment and communication was absolutely essential to the safe outcome of the flight. The passengers were pleasant; supportive and understanding throughout the whole ordeal and I attribute that directly to the two outstanding flight attendants we had. They took great care of the passengers and remained calm; patient; and professional. For all my flights into ZZZ; I will be increasing my personal minimums for fuel requirements when weather is in the area and will require having enough fuel to fly to ZZ1 or ZZZ3 - regardless if an alternate is legally required. I will also be more proactive in contacting dispatch for weather updates when weather is moving into the area. If I don't receive contact from dispatch in a timely manner; I will begin planning for diversion sooner. I will try and maintain situational awareness of the on-line airports in the area; and believe that it's almost impossible to determine what airports are 'on-line' airports when you are in short range diversion planning. As soon as they mentioned holding; I started planning on ZZZ1; knowing it was on line and as soon as I realized we would land there with 2000 pounds fob; I knew we had to make another plan.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: The flight approached a low fuel situation when weather moved into the vicinity of the destination airport. They declared minimum fuel; but the airport closed. They diverted to a nearby non-operation specifications airport; refueled; and proceeded to the original destination. An alternate airport was not required prior to departure.

Narrative: I was the Captain and PM during this flight. We were descending via the arrival. Due to some enroute deviation for weather; we were anticipating landing with 3700lb at ZZZ. As weather started moving into the ZZZ area; ATC began issuing us vectors off route and started giving holding instructions to other aircraft on the arrival. ATC began rerouting aircraft to a north arrival for which I determined that we didn't have enough fuel to accept. As the off route vectors continued I queried ATC about holding for us. I was developing a diversion plan for ZZZ1 and working on our BINGO fuel and trying to get the weather for ZZZ1. During this time the FO was flying the aircraft; navigating through cells. I told Dispatch via ACARS that we needed a diversion alternate. We got no reply from Dispatch. I declared MIN FUEL when we were projecting 3000 LBS FOB at ZZZ. At which time Approach told us it would be approximately an hour before they could accept us. At that time I made the decision to turn to ZZZ1. As we made the turn we realized we would be landing with ~2000 LBS FOB at ZZZ1. I felt that in the interest of safety I needed a closer airport and with ATCs assistance decided on ZZZ2 due to runway length; weather; and proximity. Throughout the entire time once we began receiving delay vectors; we were not able to reach Dispatch through ACARS or radio. I decided that if I was going to land at ZZZ1 with 2000 LBS FOB; then I would be declaring an emergency and if I declared an emergency; I would never overfly a suitable airport. I understand that ZZZ2 is not in our Ops Specs; but I deemed it the safest option at the time. I could not see where the weather was in relation to ZZZ1 and was unwilling to risk flying there only to meet significant weather. We were handed off to Center who gave us the Unicom frequency at ZZZ2. The Tower was closed at the time and we made multiple calls to Unicom during the visual approach. The FO landed the aircraft at ZZZ2 without incident. On the ground there was some difficulty getting in contact with the airport authorities and getting the aircraft fueled; but the majority of the time was spent waiting on the weather to pass through the area so that fueling could resume. Additionally; there were complications with the fueling due to the Fueler not having experience with our aircraft. Dispatch paperwork and ZZZ2 charts were sent via email to my company iPad and shared with FO. On the ground at ZZZ2; I was in constant communication with Dispatch via cell phone and we were developing a plan to avoid breaking DOT TDP limitations. A cell passed through the area at around 1 hour after landing which prevented us from attempting fueling for 40-50 minutes. We opened the Tarmac Delay Kit around 2 hours after landing. ZZZ2 Tower was working to find airstairs in the event we needed to deplane. At 2.5 hours after landing; we determined that we needed to have means to deplane the passengers if any wanted to leave. Tower had arranged for airstairs but we still had no transportation / shelter arrangements for passengers should they deplane. The fueling was accomplished properly with coordination with Maintenance Control and the local fuel service. Initially there was a fuel imbalance of approximately 3000 LBS upon completion of fueling; but through Maintenance Control we accomplished a fuel transfer procedure that rectified the imbalance. The fueling was completed around 2.5 hours and the imbalance was rectified. I made the announcement around after landing that if passengers wanted to deplane we would accommodated that; but we were also 20 minutes from taking off - as we had the fuel on board and we were ready to proceed. No passengers elected to deplane at that time. We started engines; took off and proceeded to ZZZ without any further difficulties. The rest of the crew did an outstanding job. The FO flew well and was able to manage multiple tasks while I was off frequency and trying to develop our diversion plan. His judgment and communication was absolutely essential to the safe outcome of the flight. The passengers were pleasant; supportive and understanding throughout the whole ordeal and I attribute that directly to the two outstanding flight attendants we had. They took great care of the passengers and remained calm; patient; and professional. For all my flights into ZZZ; I will be increasing my personal minimums for fuel requirements when weather is in the area and will require having enough fuel to fly to ZZ1 or ZZZ3 - regardless if an alternate is legally required. I will also be more proactive in contacting Dispatch for weather updates when weather is moving into the area. If I don't receive contact from Dispatch in a timely manner; I will begin planning for diversion sooner. I will try and maintain situational awareness of the on-line airports in the area; and believe that it's almost impossible to determine what airports are 'On-line' airports when you are in short range diversion planning. As soon as they mentioned holding; I started planning on ZZZ1; knowing it was On Line and as soon as I realized we would land there with 2000 LBS FOB; I knew we had to make another plan.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.