AA5 ENCOUNTERS ADVERSE WX ON XCOUNTRY; INITIATES CLB THROUGH CLOUDS WHEN UNABLE TO MAKE AN APCH TO EKY; CALLING BHM APCH FOR DIVERT CLRNC TO EXIT WX AND LAND.

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ARRIVED AT PRIOR REGIONAL (DCU) AT XA30. MY NORMAL PRACTICE IS TO OBTAIN DTN AND DUATS WX RPTS PRIOR TO DEP BUT THE FBO WAS CLOSED. I DECIDED TO DEPART AND OBTAIN WX BROADCASTS AT RPTING STATIONS ALONG THE RTE. THE FOLSOM (3A1) AWOS BROADCAST WAS FAVORABLE AND THE FLT CONTINUED AT 4500 FT MSL/HEADING 181 DEGS. TRIED TO CONTACT ZJX FOR FLT FOLLOWING UNSUCCESSFULLY. CONTACTED BIRMINGHAM APCH AND OBTAINED FLT FOLLOWING. NO ADDITIONAL WX INFO WAS OBTAINED. SW OF BIRMINGHAM THE CEILING AND VISIBILITY RAPIDLY DETERIORATED AND THE WIND INCREASED. THE DECISION WAS MADE TO LAND AT BESSEMER (EKY). FLT FOLLOWING WAS TERMINATED AND I ENTERED THE PATTERN TO LAND. ON FINAL APCH TO BESSEMER THE WIND WAS SUBSTANTIAL AND AT A 90 DEG ANGLE TO THE ONLY RWY. THE LNDG WAS ABORTED. THE CEILING AND VISIBILITY AT 2000 FT MSL WAS POOR AND THE DECISION WAS MADE TO TURN N TOWARDS BIRMINGHAM AND CLB INTO KNOWN IMC CONDITIONS TO AVOID CONTACT WITH TERRAIN. BIRMINGHAM APCH WAS CONTACTED; APPRISED OF THE SIT AND REQUESTED TO PROVIDE VECTORS TO BIRMINGHAM INTL. THE CTLR PROVIDED WX INFO AND VECTORS THAT RESULTED IN A SAFE LNDG AT BIRMINGHAM INTL. IN RETROSPECT; ADDITIONAL WX INFO FROM FSS; DUATS OR DTN MORE THAN LIKELY WOULD HAVE YIELDED INFO CONCERNING THE WX CONDITIONS ALONG THE RTE THUS AVOIDING THE DEV FROM VFR TO IMC. IT HAS NOW BECOME MY NORMAL PRACTICE TO OBTAIN A STANDARD WX BRIEFING FROM FSS PRIOR TO ANY FLT WHETHER LCL OR XCOUNTRY. AT THE TIME OF THE DEV; I HAD BEGUN IFR RATING TRAINING WITH THE INTENTION OF OBTAINING SAME WITHIN THE FOLLOWING 6 MONTHS. AS A RELATIVELY NEW GA PLT; EACH FLT IS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE AS CONDITIONS ARE NEVER THE SAME. A GOOD PLT LEARNS FROM MISTAKES MADE AND TAKES POSITIVE ACTION TO ENSURE THEY ARE NOT REPEATED.