Narrative:

Enroute to psp the forecast weather for ont; lax and psp were checked. I informed the first officer (first officer) we would use ont as a divert if need be and entered it as an alternate destination in the FMS. Approximately 1 hour out I entered the SETER4 arrival to 26R in route 2. The actual weather and forecasted weather for psp was ok; however; we only had enough fuel for one approach and enough fuel to make it to ont and land with reserve fuel.inbound to the arrival at psp we were advised; due to traffic; we would need to hold present position. When we queried ATC for an expected arrival time they were unable to give us one; other than stating (1) aircraft just did a go-around at psp and two other were in sequence for the arrival. ATC could not give us a reason for the go-around. On the assumption; we might be diverting; I attempted to contact dispatch; no joy. I immediately followed up with an ACARS message to dispatch requesting ont as an alternate. Not long after I sent another ACARS message requesting the same. After 2 turns in holding and some vectoring; we reached my bingo fuel and I directed the first officer to advise ATC and request ont as a divert. We previously declared minimum fuel in holding. Not long after I noticed dispatch had issued ont as a divert.ATC cleared us directly to psp and the SETER4 arrival 26R. To be able to activate and execute route 2 saved us valuable time during a very busy evolution. Enroute to psp I filled out and sent an ACARS divert message to dispatch. We landed ont uneventfully; however; they were not aware of our divert situation.lessons learned:- I've never been afraid to add fuel nor have I ever been denied. My fuel load was normal for normal day at psp but; the weather at psp was not the norm. After my initial pre-flight; I was leaning towards adding fuel; however; I allowed distractions to dictate otherwise. Unacceptable! - At a minimum I should have had dispatch add ont as an alternate.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 flight crew reported diverting to a nearby alternate when the weather at destination started to cause missed approaches. The forecast at departure did not require an alternate.

Narrative: Enroute to PSP the forecast weather for ONT; LAX and PSP were checked. I informed the First Officer (FO) we would use ONT as a divert if need be and entered it as an alternate destination in the FMS. Approximately 1 hour out I entered the SETER4 arrival to 26R in Route 2. The actual weather and forecasted weather for PSP was ok; however; we only had enough fuel for one approach and enough fuel to make it to ONT and land with reserve fuel.Inbound to the arrival at PSP we were advised; due to traffic; we would need to hold present position. When we queried ATC for an expected arrival time they were unable to give us one; other than stating (1) aircraft just did a go-around at PSP and two other were in sequence for the arrival. ATC could not give us a reason for the go-around. On the assumption; we might be diverting; I attempted to contact dispatch; no joy. I immediately followed up with an ACARS message to dispatch requesting ONT as an alternate. Not long after I sent another ACARS message requesting the same. After 2 turns in holding and some vectoring; we reached my bingo fuel and I directed the FO to advise ATC and request ONT as a divert. We previously declared minimum fuel in holding. Not long after I noticed dispatch had issued ONT as a divert.ATC cleared us directly to PSP and the SETER4 arrival 26R. To be able to activate and execute Route 2 saved us valuable time during a very busy evolution. Enroute to PSP I filled out and sent an ACARS divert message to dispatch. We landed ONT uneventfully; however; they were not aware of our divert situation.Lessons Learned:- I've never been afraid to add fuel nor have I ever been denied. My fuel load was normal for normal day at PSP but; the weather at PSP was not the norm. After my initial pre-flight; I was leaning towards adding fuel; however; I allowed distractions to dictate otherwise. Unacceptable! - At a minimum I should have had dispatch add ONT as an alternate.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.