B737 captain reported degraded weather at the destination and alternate required the crew to obtain ...

Narrative:

Arrival into ZZZ was forecast VMC with alternate of ZZZ1 for circuit breaker tempo line. Weather degraded on descent at both ZZZ and alternate; requiring captain to come up with a new alternate with dispatch concurrence. In the middle of this process ZZZ changed the runway configuration and field conditions; requiring several new ACARS weather requests as well as new pwb (performance weight and balance) data for wet runways. By this time dispatch returned with several new alternate plans; requiring several more weather requests and dispatch messages. All of this is occurring around attempting to brief the new approach; the new divert numbers and the new pwb data; all of which was competing for space on our FMC screen; only to be transcribed by the pm for reference if and when it is needed.we have reached saturation with regards to our FMC and the data stream required by procedure. Lack of a flight deck printer is now degrading the level of safety we; as end-users; are providing. Risk mitigation should not be something that we simply pay lip service to during check rides; unfortunately that is what seems to be this case in this particular instance. Printers should be placed on the flight deck of all company aircraft posthaste.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 Captain reported degraded weather at the destination and alternate required the crew to obtain a new alternate. Captain reported a runway change added to the mix and with no printer aboard the aircraft it made for a very busy scenario.

Narrative: Arrival into ZZZ was forecast VMC with alternate of ZZZ1 for CB TEMPO line. Weather degraded on descent at both ZZZ and alternate; requiring Captain to come up with a new alternate with Dispatch concurrence. In the middle of this process ZZZ changed the runway configuration and field conditions; requiring several new ACARS weather requests as well as new PWB (Performance Weight and Balance) data for wet runways. By this time Dispatch returned with several new alternate plans; requiring several more weather requests and Dispatch messages. All of this is occurring around attempting to brief the new approach; the new divert numbers and the new PWB data; all of which was competing for space on our FMC screen; only to be transcribed by the PM for reference if and when it is needed.We have reached saturation with regards to our FMC and the data stream required by procedure. Lack of a flight deck printer is now degrading the level of Safety we; as end-users; are providing. Risk mitigation should not be something that we simply pay lip service to during check rides; unfortunately that is what seems to be this case in this particular instance. Printers should be placed on the flight deck of all Company aircraft posthaste.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1477360
Time
Date	201708
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	Mixed
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737 Next Generation Undifferentiated
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Not Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence

B737 captain reported degraded weather at the destination and alternate required the crew to obtain a new alternate. Captain reported a runway change added to the mix and with no printer aboard the aircraft it made for a very busy scenario.