Narrative:

I went for a short flight; weather came up much faster and worse than forecast; and I ended up in weather I shouldn't have been in. Roa ATC helped me a lot; and I really appreciate it. I checked weather radar and duats late morning including tafs for roa and bcb; which is near the beginning of the lda 6 into roa. Storms were not forecast until late afternoon; ceiling was 2;300 at and 6;000 at bcb; so I headed to the roa airport to fly my aircraft since it had been sitting unused for almost two weeks. I decided to eat lunch first; so it was afternoon before I was ready for takeoff. It started raining but was good VFR. Instead of doing touch and goes I decided to ask for an IFR clearance for an lda 6 in case the visibility lowered due to the rain. Heading out departure told me of light to moderate rain but no reports of a bad ride. A few minutes later planes on the approach were asking for vectors around a storm and I was seeing the clouds around me light up. I realized that; had I been planning a trip; I would have postponed it for weather half this bad. I was third for the approach and the strikefinder and communications of other aircraft indicated that the lightning was ahead so I slowed down. I had strong up and down drafts; which are normal with the wind and the mountains; but I also got my first carb ice ever. I was IMC and it took me a while to notice the loss of engine power; mistaking it for a downdraft at first; but I put on the carb heat in time with classic symptoms of a rough engine then it returned to full power. Roa approach gave me vectors away from the storm and I commented that I wished I hadn't taken this flight. I think approach could tell that I was feeling a bit worried. I lost track of the first plane on the approach; but the second diverted to a hold. Then approach put me in front of him despite my 50 KT ground speed while heading outbound to the IAF. I never encountered much turbulence. I asked for a tight turn onto the lda in part to stay away from the storm and in part because I was feeling bad that I was in the way of pilots hauling passengers. The approach went well; but the deep puddles on the ground during taxi surprised me. The weather was a lot worse than I had expected. I cannot say enough about the roa approach controller. I was a bit confused as to exactly where the storm was. ATC gave me enough information and offered vectors around the storm; but also gave me time to concentrate on flying the plane. I think he put me on the approach in front of another plane because he sensed I was nervous. I could have flown outbound faster and caused less of a traffic jam; but I was flying slow on purpose since I thought I was still waiting my turn at the approach. Maybe the controller could have asked me to speed up; but maybe he was keeping my workload down by not bothering me. In the future I will double check the weather as close to takeoff time as I can. I do this for long trips but let my guard down for a local flight. Filing IFR seemed safer when I did it; but only getting in a few touch and goes before calling it quits due to weather would have been better.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A solo single engine pilot departed ROA on an IFR training flight and was unexpectedly caught in a weather system which arrived in airport vicinity hours earlier than forecast so he requested ATC's assistance for an immediate return.

Narrative: I went for a short flight; weather came up much faster and worse than forecast; and I ended up in weather I shouldn't have been in. ROA ATC helped me a lot; and I really appreciate it. I checked weather radar and DUATS late morning including TAFs for ROA and BCB; which is near the beginning of the LDA 6 into ROA. Storms were not forecast until late afternoon; ceiling was 2;300 at and 6;000 at BCB; so I headed to the ROA airport to fly my aircraft since it had been sitting unused for almost two weeks. I decided to eat lunch first; so it was afternoon before I was ready for takeoff. It started raining but was good VFR. Instead of doing touch and goes I decided to ask for an IFR clearance for an LDA 6 in case the visibility lowered due to the rain. Heading out Departure told me of light to moderate rain but no reports of a bad ride. A few minutes later planes on the approach were asking for vectors around a storm and I was seeing the clouds around me light up. I realized that; had I been planning a trip; I would have postponed it for weather half this bad. I was third for the approach and the strikefinder and communications of other aircraft indicated that the lightning was ahead so I slowed down. I had strong up and down drafts; which are normal with the wind and the mountains; but I also got my first carb ice ever. I was IMC and it took me a while to notice the loss of engine power; mistaking it for a downdraft at first; but I put on the carb heat in time with classic symptoms of a rough engine then it returned to full power. ROA Approach gave me vectors away from the storm and I commented that I wished I hadn't taken this flight. I think Approach could tell that I was feeling a bit worried. I lost track of the first plane on the approach; but the second diverted to a hold. Then Approach put me in front of him despite my 50 KT ground speed while heading outbound to the IAF. I never encountered much turbulence. I asked for a tight turn onto the LDA in part to stay away from the storm and in part because I was feeling bad that I was in the way of pilots hauling passengers. The approach went well; but the deep puddles on the ground during taxi surprised me. The weather was a LOT worse than I had expected. I cannot say enough about the ROA Approach Controller. I was a bit confused as to exactly where the storm was. ATC gave me enough information and offered vectors around the storm; but also gave me time to concentrate on flying the plane. I think he put me on the approach in front of another plane because he sensed I was nervous. I could have flown outbound faster and caused less of a traffic jam; but I was flying slow on purpose since I thought I was still waiting my turn at the approach. Maybe the Controller could have asked me to speed up; but maybe he was keeping my workload down by not bothering me. In the future I will double check the weather as close to takeoff time as I can. I do this for long trips but let my guard down for a local flight. Filing IFR seemed safer when I did it; but only getting in a few touch and goes before calling it quits due to weather would have been better.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.