Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Flight Crew Private
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 12; Flight Crew Total 92; Flight Crew Type 92
Situational Awareness
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Inflight Event / Encounter VFR In IMC
Flight Crew Became Reoriented; Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Human Factors; Weather
Not sure if the form made it clear what really happened. I unintentionally flew into IMC conditions.The weather was VFR when I took off. Flight Services warned of areas of fog low to the ground around Lakeland when I took off; however Florida weather usually burns it up in the morning. Flying along at cruise (4;500 MSL); the sky is just gray out in front of me and to the side of me. The horizon is a faded blur between the clouds and the ground from whatever fog was leftover in the morning. There was no differentiating what were clouds and what was just far away scud. There was an overcast layer that was the exact same shade of gray as the FEW clouds (1;000-2;000 ft MSL) that I was flying over. I was looking around scanning outside of the cockpit when I recognized that the clouds looked a little bit different right in front of the nose. I said to myself out loud 'we might need to descend here in a second'. Within 15 seconds of saying that; I was inside a cloud. Now I was talking with Tampa Approach the whole time with Flight Following. I was also looking for a way out as a just-in-case. Weather was clear behind the plane; also clear below me; but couldn't tell if it was clear above me. I called Tampa Approach 'need to descend to 3000 please' by the time she responded; my visibility had dropped to a little less than a mile. I still had visual contact of the ground by looking straight down from my window.I had never seen this situation before. I've researched how VFR pilots have accidently flown into clouds in the past - but it didn't make sense to me. It's my belief that a pilot would not KNOW that this cloud were in front of them unless they had physically seen or been in that situation before. Again; all I noticed was that it was a bit different looking but wasn't 100% sure it was a cloud that I was about to fly into. Once I found myself in it; I kept visual contact with the ground and maintained my composure to safely get myself out of IMC conditions and continue on my way. I was content with how I handled the situation. I have cockpit video and audio of the incident. Also have the pilot report I made to Miami Flight Watch (122.00) that I made on audio and video.
C172 pilot reported unintentionally flying into IMC conditions.