Originally posted by willd
Personally the worse crosswind I have ever had was landing at Wellington Airport in NZ- its known across the world for being one of the toughest airports to land at- something to do with different air pressures and the cook strait.
I can go and ask my retired ANZ pilot friend to tell us all about WLG if you like!
I was pretty lucky when I was in WLG, it wasn't too bad at all. The challenge is that the airport is tucked in between two pieces of high ground, and the whole area is surrounded by high terrain, except for the runway ends which are both over water.
http://www.airliners.net/photo/-/-/1066283/L/You can also get changes of wind direction on short final, as the wind is funneled through the gap where the runway is.
As an example, here's the current weather report (METAR) for Wellington:
NZWN 072200Z 18008KT 60KM SKC 17/12 Q1012 NOSIG RMK KAUKAU 36011KT
Here wind down the runway is 180 degrees opposite from that on the top of Mount Kaukau which is the large mountain directly to the west of Wellington.
Therefore, as you're descending on final, you can expect significant change in windspeed, which affects your approach.
Regards,
Mike