For an airport without an approved instrument approach, what are the minimum forecasted conditions for it to be listed as an alternate on an IFR flight plan?

When an airport does not have an approved instrument approach procedure, it can still be considered as an alternate airport under specific conditions. In this case, the necessary weather conditions are those that would allow for basic Visual Flight Rules (VFR) to be maintained.

Basic VFR conditions imply that the ceiling and visibility must meet the minimums set forth for VFR flight, which generally are a ceiling of at least 1,000 feet above ground level and visibility of at least 3 statute miles. This means that pilots are able to operate under visual flight rules without relying on instrument navigation.

The requirement for the alternate airport thus aligns with the fundamental principles of VFR operations, allowing pilots to divert to this airport should that become necessary during their flight. These conditions ensure that, even though the airport does not have published instrument approaches, there would still be a reasonable opportunity to land visually.

Conditions for other choices would not meet the necessary threshold for providing adequate safety and operational flexibility, as they do not align with the basic VFR guidelines needed for an airport to be acknowledged as an alternate in IFR flight planning when no instrument approaches are available.