diff --git a/src/nwp_consumer/internal/repositories/model_repositories/noaa_s3.py b/src/nwp_consumer/internal/repositories/model_repositories/noaa_s3.py
index e8c7a42..0e087f3 100644
--- a/src/nwp_consumer/internal/repositories/model_repositories/noaa_s3.py
+++ b/src/nwp_consumer/internal/repositories/model_repositories/noaa_s3.py
@@ -283,6 +283,13 @@ def _convert(path: pathlib.Path) -> ResultE[list[xr.DataArray]]:
                 ],
             )
 
+        if len(processed_das) == 0:
+            return Failure(ValueError(
+                f"The file at '{path}' does not contain any variables of interest. "
+                "Ensure the conversion pipeline is not accidentally dropping wanted variables, ",
+                "and that the file contains variables of interest.",
+            ))
+
         return Success(processed_das)
 
     @staticmethod
diff --git a/src/nwp_consumer/internal/repositories/model_repositories/test_HRES-GFS_aptmp.grib b/src/nwp_consumer/internal/repositories/model_repositories/test_HRES-GFS_aptmp.grib
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..932e887
Binary files /dev/null and b/src/nwp_consumer/internal/repositories/model_repositories/test_HRES-GFS_aptmp.grib differ
diff --git a/src/nwp_consumer/internal/repositories/model_repositories/test_noaa_s3.py b/src/nwp_consumer/internal/repositories/model_repositories/test_noaa_s3.py
index 9782f64..8da0c1d 100644
--- a/src/nwp_consumer/internal/repositories/model_repositories/test_noaa_s3.py
+++ b/src/nwp_consumer/internal/repositories/model_repositories/test_noaa_s3.py
@@ -132,6 +132,10 @@ class TestCase:
                 filename="test_HRES-GFS_r.grib",
                 should_error=False,
             ),
+            TestCase(
+                filename="test_HRES-GFS_aptmp.grib",
+                should_error=True,
+            ),
             TestCase(
                 filename="test_UM-Global_t2m.grib",
                 should_error=True,