AN OTHERWISE ROUTINE FLIGHT FROM Houston, Texas, to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida (FLL) turned into a stress-filled final 30 minutes thanks to some perfectly timed weather and a notice to air missions (notam) for construction cranes that raised the ILS minimums to nearly 500 feet agl. While still in cruise flight about an hour prior to our scheduled arrival, we saw that heavy rain was moving toward the airport. These tropical rainshowers are not unusual in Florida and often don't last too long. This time, however, the showers were large and slow moving. Once we saw that an actual IFR approach could be warranted, we briefed the ILS to Runway 28R. I have to give props to my sharp first officer who caught the notam buried in our paperwork for a nearby crane raising the minimums from 257 feet to 471 feet agl.
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