Narrative:

Departed on a VFR personal flight. No flight plan was filed; no passengers onboard. Preflight briefing included review of local metars and tafs in this area which showed MVFR enroute during the time of the planned flight. Consulted prog charts and visibility and ceiling forecasts which confirmed MVFR on route of flight. With very few reporting stations along this route of flight; I relied heavily on the prog charts and graphical depiction of ceiling and visibility forecasts for the area; which were accessed on foreflight 30 minutes before departure. Departed VFR and climbed to 7;500 ft MSL. Lowering ceilings enroute required gradual descents to remain VFR. At approx 10 nm southeast of txc VOR; encountered rapidly lowering ceilings and diminishing visibility. Continued descent to approx 900 ft AGL when taws activated with 'terrain! Pull up!' command. Considered turning 180 degrees but determined that safest move to avoid terrain was to initiate climb immediately due to taws activation. Continued climb in IMC on enroute heading using autopilot and contacted denver center. Advised denver that I was VFR in inadvertent IMC and climbing. Coordinated location with reference to txc VOR; heading and altitude. Controller assigned transponder code but could not confirm radar contact for some time. Controller inquired whether aircraft and pilot were IFR certified. I replied that the airplane was; but that I was not. Pireps on frequency reported tops at 9;500 ft MSL. I broke out on top at approx 8;900 ft MSL and called ATC to report same. Continued climb to VFR altitude of 9;500 ft MSL. ATC radar was still not confirmed at this point; but did confirm about 5 minutes after level-off as I continued on course. Flight continued normally in VMC and eventually landed at [another airport] due to approaching storms at [my destination]denver center was very helpful. Aircraft is equipped with taws; xm weather; autopilot and TCAS. These systems aided greatly in recovery from this situation.contributing factors: 1) lack of weather reporting stations along route of flight especially within 30 nm radius of txc. 2) ceilings and visibility significantly lower than forecasted. 3) pilot's unfamiliarity with local terrain.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: SR22 pilot flying VFR reported receiving a terrain alert from his TAWS system when he was forced lower to avoid cloud penetration.

Narrative: Departed on a VFR personal flight. No flight plan was filed; no passengers onboard. Preflight briefing included review of local METARS and TAFs in this area which showed MVFR enroute during the time of the planned flight. Consulted Prog Charts and Visibility and Ceiling forecasts which confirmed MVFR on route of flight. With very few reporting stations along this route of flight; I relied heavily on the Prog Charts and graphical depiction of ceiling and visibility forecasts for the area; which were accessed on ForeFlight 30 minutes before departure. Departed VFR and climbed to 7;500 ft MSL. Lowering ceilings enroute required gradual descents to remain VFR. At approx 10 nm SE of TXC VOR; encountered rapidly lowering ceilings and diminishing visibility. Continued descent to approx 900 ft AGL when TAWS activated with 'Terrain! Pull Up!' command. Considered turning 180 degrees but determined that safest move to avoid terrain was to initiate climb immediately due to TAWS activation. Continued climb in IMC on enroute heading using autopilot and contacted Denver Center. Advised Denver that I was VFR in inadvertent IMC and climbing. Coordinated location with reference to TXC VOR; heading and altitude. Controller assigned transponder code but could not confirm radar contact for some time. Controller inquired whether aircraft and pilot were IFR certified. I replied that the airplane was; but that I was not. PIREPs on frequency reported tops at 9;500 ft MSL. I broke out on top at approx 8;900 ft MSL and called ATC to report same. Continued climb to VFR altitude of 9;500 ft MSL. ATC radar was still not confirmed at this point; but did confirm about 5 minutes after level-off as I continued on course. Flight continued normally in VMC and eventually landed at [another airport] due to approaching storms at [my destination]Denver Center was very helpful. Aircraft is equipped with TAWS; XM Weather; autopilot and TCAS. These systems aided greatly in recovery from this situation.Contributing factors: 1) Lack of weather reporting stations along route of flight especially within 30 nm radius of TXC. 2) Ceilings and visibility significantly lower than forecasted. 3) Pilot's unfamiliarity with local terrain.

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.