SR22
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Private
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 23; Flight Crew Total 1956; Flight Crew Type 101
Situational Awareness; Training / Qualification
Airspace Violation All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
Air Traffic Control Issued Advisory / Alert; Flight Crew Exited Penetrated Airspace; Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Airspace Structure; Human Factors; Weather
Earlier in the day the ceilings were about 3;500 to 4;000 FT so I decided to make the return trip VFR with Flight Following and stay under the 3;000 FT floor of the Bravo [airspace] since that is what ATC would have me do had I filed.  All was well until I reached the shoreline.  I was at 2;700 FT and was cleared by Approach through the Class D at or above 2;500 FT; but had to stay below the Bravo at 3;000 FT.  As I reached land the ceiling descended to just about 2;700 or 2;800 FT; so I descended to 2;500 FT but that still put me through the base of the clouds.  Then ATC warned me about traffic ahead on a missed [approach] and suddenly I found myself trapped in and out of the clouds; unable to descend without busting the Delta airspace.  Meanwhile I could not see the traffic which was being called out by the traffic warning system as straight ahead. I was able to turn into clear weather away from the traffic but busted VFR minimums and descended into the top 100 feet of the Delta [airspace].  I should have monitored the ATIS while I was over the ocean and asked for a clearance when it was clear that I could not maintain VFR minimums or circled when the weather closed in and asked for a clearance.  Next time I will get the clearance first and cancel if the weather accommodates.
An SR-22 pilot on a VFR flight found himself between a cloud layer above and Class D airspace below and with unseen traffic ahead. Pilot was eventually able to reach VMC conditions; but not before violating the airspace and cloud clearance criteria.