Cessna pilot flies toward deteriorating WX and wishes he had landed sooner.

Attributes
ACN	446856
Time
Date	199908
Day	Mon
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : zdc.artcc
State Reference	DC
Altitude	msl single value : 1000
Environment
Flight Conditions	Marginal
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Small Aircraft, High Wing, 1 Eng, Fixed Gear
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Navigation In Use	other
Flight Phase	cruise : level
Route In Use	approach : visual enroute : direct
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Affiliation	other
Function	flight crew : single pilot oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : private
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 10 flight time total : 420 flight time type : 420
ASRS Report	446856
Person 2
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	other personnel
Qualification	other
Events
Anomaly	airspace violation : entry inflight encounter : vfr in imc inflight encounter : weather non adherence : far
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	flight crew : diverted to another airport
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Flight Crew Human Performance Weather
Primary Problem	Weather
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

Narrative:

Flying into IMC/marginal VFR conditions resulted in loss of location awareness. WX below that forecast by FSS and that being reported by nearest AWOS. As ceiling became 500 ft I put into the nearest airport and waited for WX improvement. Landing should have been done sooner.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CESSNA PLT FLIES TOWARD DETERIORATING WX AND WISHES HE HAD LANDED SOONER.

Narrative: FLYING INTO IMC/MARGINAL VFR CONDITIONS RESULTED IN LOSS OF LOCATION AWARENESS. WX BELOW THAT FORECAST BY FSS AND THAT BEING RPTED BY NEAREST AWOS. AS CEILING BECAME 500 FT I PUT INTO THE NEAREST ARPT AND WAITED FOR WX IMPROVEMENT. LNDG SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE SOONER.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.