COMMUTER FLT IN AN EMB120 ENCOUNTERS WX BTWN THEIR POS AND THE ARPT WHICH HAS GOOD VMC. ON MISSED APCH THEY REQUEST A VISUAL FOR A SECOND TRY. WX HAS DETERIORATED AND THEY MAKE A SECOND MISSED APCH. DIVERT TO ALTERNATE.

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WHILE ON VECTORS FOR THE LOC 16 APCH FOR FYV WE HAD TO NAV THROUGH A LINE OF DEVELOPING TSTMS. THE FO WAS FLYING AND THE RIDE WAS NOT ALL THAT BAD. AFTER INTERCEPTING THE LOC WE COULD SEE THE ARPT AND RWY CLRLY FROM ABOUT 10 MI OUT. RPTED WX WAS 2000 FT SCATTERED; 4000 FT OVCST AND 7 MI VISIBILITY. THERE WERE A FEW LAYERS OF CLOUDS STILL AND THE APCH WAS CONTINUED. WE DSNDED INTO THE CLOUDS AND I NOTICED SOME LOW SCUD IN PATCHES BELOW US. WE BROKE OUT OF THE CLOUDS INTO VERY GOOD VFR JUST PRIOR TO THE MISSED APCH POINT. WE WERE HIGH AND BEGAN A STEEP APCH TO LAND. THE GPWS GAVE US A SINK RATE WARNING FOLLOWED BY A PULL UP COMMAND. SINCE IT WAS NIGHT WE BEGAN A GAR. THE TWR TOLD US TO CONTACT APCH. UPON CONTACTING APCH WE TOLD THEM WE WERE IN VFR AND WOULD LIKE TO TRY TO RECEIVE A VISUAL APCH CLRNC. THE CTLR TOLD US TO MAINTAIN VFR. HE THEN TOLD US HE HAD ANOTHER ACFT ON THE APCH AND COULD NOT CLR US. HE THEN ISSUED A HDG FOR US TO FLY. WE ADVISED WE COULD NOT FLY THAT HDG AND MAINTAIN VFR. THE CTLR THEN ASKED IF WE WOULD LIKE AN IFR CLRNC. I HAD ASSUMED WE WERE STILL ON AN IFR CLRNC BUT THE CTLR DIDN'T SEEM TO THINK SO. WE TOLD HIM WE NEEDED A CLRNC AND WANTED TO COME BACK AND TRY THE APCH AGAIN. WE RECEIVED A CLRNC AND VECTORS FOR ANOTHER APCH. THE LINE OF WX WE HAD COME THROUGH WAS BUILDING RAPIDLY AND WAS BTWN US AND OUR ALTERNATE. WE CALLED THE TWR ON THE SECOND RADIO AND HE ADVISED THE PROB APPEARED TO BE A SMALL AREA OF LOW SCUD JUST OFF THE APCH END. THE WIND AT THIS TIME ACTUALLY FAVORED A LNDG TO THE OPPOSITE END OF THE RWY FROM THE LOC APCH. AFTER BEING CLRED FOR THE LOC APCH AGAIN WE WERE TOLD TO CONTACT TWR. WE EXPLAINED TO TWR THAT WE WERE TRYING THE APCH AGAIN AND IF WE BROKE OUT LIKE LAST TIME WOULD LIKE TO RECEIVE A VISUAL APCH TO RWY 34. UNKNOWN TO US IT HAD BEGUN TO RAIN AT THE ARPT AND THE GOOD VFR CONDITIONS HAD DETERIORATED. WE SHOT THE APCH AND JUST PRIOR TO THE MISSED APCH POINT BOTH THE FO AND MYSELF BEGAN TO LOOK OUTSIDE THE ACFT. WE GLIMPSED THE RWY THROUGH A VERT HOLE AS WE PASSED OVER IT. WE LOOKED BACK INSIDE AND SAW WE WERE PAST THE MISSED APCH POINT. WE BEGAN A MISSED APCH AND AT THE SAME TIME THE TWR CTLR CALLED AND SAID WE LOOKED AWFULLY LOW AND FOR US TO EXECUTE A MISSED APCH. WE EXECUTED THE MISSED APCH AND ASKED FOR VECTORS TO OUR ALTERNATE. THERE APPEARED TO BE SEVERAL PROBS THIS EVENING AFTER REFLECTION. I BELIEVE A TRUE PICTURE OF THE WX SHOULD HAVE BEEN PASSED TO THE APCH CTLR. THIS WOULD HAVE AIDED OUR DECISION TO ACTUALLY PENETRATE THE FIRST LINE OF STORMS AND BEGIN THIS MESS. THE LOW SCUD LAYER WAS NEVER MENTIONED ON THE FIRST APCH AND THE CHANGE IN WX WAS NOT PASSED TO US PRIOR TO BEGINNING THE SECOND APCH. THE NEXT PROB SEEMED TO BE TERMINOLOGY. ON THE FIRST MISSED WE TOLD APCH WE WERE 'VFR AND WOULD LIKE TO GET A VISUAL APCH CLRNC.' I BELIEVE HE THOUGHT WE HAD CANCELED IFR AND THAT CAUSED CONFUSION ON OUR PART. NEXT WAS THE SECOND APCH THE TWR OPERATOR THINKING WE WERE LOW ON THE APCH. THIS COULD HAVE BEEN BECAUSE OF OUR SLOW START TO BEGIN THE MISSED APCH OR THE TWR CTLR COULD HAVE THOUGHT WE WERE DOING THE CIRCLE TO LAND. THERE WAS LOTS OF CONFUSION ON APCH FREQ WITH APPROX 5 ACFT BEING WORKED AND DEVIATING IN ALL DIRECTIONS FOR WX. OUR 'OUT OF THE ORDINARY' REQUESTS ALSO SERVED TO CONFUSE THINGS WORSE. OUR DESIRE TO LAND AT THE ARPT RATHER THAN FLY THROUGH THE BAD WX BTWN US AND OUR ALTERNATE COULD HAVE PROVEN DISASTROUS. THIS ARPT SITS IN A VALLEY AND A VISUAL APCH; AT NIGHT; IN RAPIDLY CHANGING WX WAS A POOR CHOICE OF THINGS TO TRY FOR. WE SHOULD HAVE JUST FLOWN THE APCHS AND EXECUTED THE MISSED ON BOTH APCHS INSTEAD OF TRYING TO HAVE A BETTER IDEA.