Jeff wrote:

no matter how you dice it, that should not have happened. Phoenix does
not get much IMC, its sunny about 350 days a year there.


This is the key to the whole situation. PHX weather is so good, the Tracon
folks just don't have to deal with it very often. Jeff's experience is
fairly common around this area. Any clouds in the sky and they freak out
and can't handle anybody. We often talk about how they ought to rotate
people through Socal to learn how to really accommodate IFR GA operations.
The flexible, impromptu clearances and tower enroute operations over there
are totally unheard of in PHX.

Mike