Narrative:

ATIS winds were [from] 280 versus 340 at 11 gusting 19 KTS and runway 5 was in use. I entered the worst case winds for runway 5 (280/11g19) in the performance chart and saw that the winds for runway 5 were beyond our maximum tailwind limit. On initial contact with rdu approach; I told him we had ATIS and would require runway 23 because of the surface winds. Approach control said that the winds were 330 at 11 KTS and told us to expect runway 5L. I asked if that was a new observation and asked him to confirm that the winds were no longer 280 versus 340. He said that the winds he reported were not yet the official observation; but they were cutting a new ATIS at that time; which would remove the variability in the wind direction. We continued on the arrival. A few minutes later; we pulled up information the new ATIS and the winds were still 280 versus 340 at 11 gusting 19 KTS. I informed the controller that information the newest ATIS winds had not changed and we would require runway 23. At this point; I was anticipating an arrival fuel of 5;000 pounds. The controller vectored us to a base leg and said there would be another ATIS out in just a couple of minutes; but if we didn't have it by the time we were on a five mile final; he would break us off the approach. We were vectored onto final and still had no new weather observation with acceptable winds. About ten miles out; the controller asked if we could accept the approach; and we said we could not unless we could get some assurance that the winds were no longer variable between 280 and 340. The controller again reported the current winds; but could not say if the direction was variable; so he broke us off the approach. At this point I had about 5;200 pounds of fuel on board. We were vectored for an extended downwind and the controller told me that they were cutting a new ATIS again that would hopefully do the trick. My plan was to declare minimum fuel when we reached the point where our arrival fuel would be 4;000 pounds. If that declaration did not generate a runway change (or if the winds did not become acceptable) within a few minutes; I planned to declare an emergency and land on [runway] 23. About 15 miles southwest of the airport; ATIS 'Z' became current with winds of 320 at 14 KTS. We accepted a clearance for the visual approach and landed on runway 5R. We blocked in with 4;200 pounds of fuel. My question is this: do winds within limits reported by an air traffic controller negate winds reported on a very current ATIS that are out of limits; or is a new weather observation required (like it is for determining visibility minimums for an approach)?

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Captain refused an approach because aircraft crosswind limitations were exceeded with the current ATIS reported winds while TRACON reported that a new ATIS was being processed with acceptable winds.

Narrative: ATIS winds were [from] 280 versus 340 at 11 gusting 19 KTS and Runway 5 was in use. I entered the worst case winds for Runway 5 (280/11G19) in the performance chart and saw that the winds for Runway 5 were beyond our maximum tailwind limit. On initial contact with RDU Approach; I told him we had ATIS and would require Runway 23 because of the surface winds. Approach Control said that the winds were 330 at 11 KTS and told us to expect Runway 5L. I asked if that was a new observation and asked him to confirm that the winds were no longer 280 versus 340. He said that the winds he reported were not yet the official observation; but they were cutting a new ATIS at that time; which would remove the variability in the wind direction. We continued on the arrival. A few minutes later; we pulled up information the new ATIS and the winds were still 280 versus 340 at 11 gusting 19 KTS. I informed the Controller that information the newest ATIS winds had not changed and we would require Runway 23. At this point; I was anticipating an arrival fuel of 5;000 LBS. The Controller vectored us to a base leg and said there would be another ATIS out in just a couple of minutes; but if we didn't have it by the time we were on a five mile final; he would break us off the approach. We were vectored onto final and still had no new weather observation with acceptable winds. About ten miles out; the Controller asked if we could accept the approach; and we said we could not unless we could get some assurance that the winds were no longer variable between 280 and 340. The Controller again reported the current winds; but could not say if the direction was variable; so he broke us off the approach. At this point I had about 5;200 LBS of fuel on board. We were vectored for an extended downwind and the Controller told me that they were cutting a new ATIS again that would hopefully do the trick. My plan was to declare minimum fuel when we reached the point where our arrival fuel would be 4;000 LBS. If that declaration did not generate a runway change (or if the winds did not become acceptable) within a few minutes; I planned to declare an emergency and land on [Runway] 23. About 15 miles southwest of the airport; ATIS 'Z' became current with winds of 320 at 14 KTS. We accepted a clearance for the visual approach and landed on Runway 5R. We blocked in with 4;200 LBS of fuel. My question is this: Do winds within limits reported by an Air Traffic Controller negate winds reported on a very current ATIS that are out of limits; or is a new weather observation required (like it is for determining visibility minimums for an approach)?

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.