A320 FLC CHALLENGED BY MSN CTLR BECAUSE OF WX DEVS.

Narrative

FLT WAS N VIA DULUTH; THEN GREEN BAY; WI; THEN DIRECTLY TOWARDS MADISON. THIS RTE WAS TO AVOID KNOWN CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY THROUGHOUT THE AREA. TURNING S TOWARDS MADISON; IT APPEARED THAT THE AREA E AND S OF THE ARPT WAS THE BEST WAY IN. AS WE NEARED THE ARPT AND STARTED AVOIDING THE MOST CONCENTRATED CELLS; IT BECAME CLR THAT WE MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO MAKE AN APCH TO RWY 36 BECAUSE CELLS WERE STARTING TO BUILD JUST W OF THE ARPT. APCH CTL WAS BASICALLY LETTING US MANEUVER AS NECESSARY TO AVOID THE TSTMS. AS WE GOT JUST NE OF THE ARPT; WE DETERMINED WE COULD NOT MAKE A SAFE APCH USING RWY 36 AND TOLD APCH THAT WE WERE SHOWING AN ALLEY BTWN TSTM CELLS THAT WE COULD FLY THROUGH; AND THEN HOLD; OR TAKE DELAYING VECTORS S OF THE FIELD UNTIL THE WX CLRED. THE APCH CTLR SAID THAT SOUNDED FINE. WE CONTINUED TO THE SE FOR ANOTHER 10 MI THEN TURNED DIRECTLY S. AS WE GOT 10-15 MI ESE OF MSN; THE CTLR SAID WE WOULD BE GOING INTO MILWAUKEE AND ROCKFORD APCH AIRSPACE AND WOULD HAVE TO TURN TO A 270 DEG HDG TO STAY OUT OF THEIR AIRSPACE. WE REPLIED THAT WE COULD NOT DO SO WITHOUT FLYING DIRECTLY INTO A TSTM. HE THEN ASKED IF WE WERE DECLARING AN EMER; AND WE SAID 'NOT AT THIS TIME.' HE THEN SAID WE MUST TURN TO 270 DEGS AND WE STARTED A SLOW TURN; STAYING OUT OF A TSTM TO OUR W. AFTER WE COMPLETED THE TURN; THE CTLR ADVISED US WE HAD FLOWN INTO BOTH MILWAUKEE AND ROCKFORD AIRSPACE AND THAT HE WOULD BE FILING A PLTDEV ON US. AT THAT TIME ANOTHER CTLR CAME ON AND VECTORED US W AND N; AS THE TSTMS HAD PASSED; AND WE MADE AN UNEVENTFUL LNDG USING RWY 18 IN MSN. I FEEL THAT THERE WERE 3 TIMES THAT HUMAN FACTORS CONTRIBUTED TO THIS OCCURRENCE. FIRST; IN THE PLANNING STAGE BY DISPATCH; THIS FLT WOULD HAVE AND I BELIEVE SHOULD HAVE BEEN DELAYED TO AVOID THE WX SIT TOTALLY. SECOND; ON OUR PART; AFTER GETTING WITHIN 40 NM OF THE ARPT WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN MORE AGGRESSIVE IN POSTPONING AN ATTEMPTED APCH UNTIL THE WX CLRED OR A DIVERSION BECAME NECESSARY. THIRD; THE APCH CTLR DID NOT ADVISE US ABOUT THE AIRSPACE CONFLICT UNTIL WE HAD COMMITTED TO DEVIATING TO THE E OF THE ARPT. BY THE TIME WE WERE TOLD TO TURN; OR ELSE; WAS WAY TOO LATE AND WE HAD NOWHERE TO GO BUT THROUGH A TSTM. INCIDENTALLY; THERE WERE NO CONFLICTS WITH ANY OTHER ACFT THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT. AS FOR THE SECOND CAUSE; WHICH WAS OURS; I CAN SAY THIS -- COMBINING THE FEELING TO 'ALWAYS GET THE PEOPLE THERE' WITH THE END OF A LONG DAY CAUSED US TO PUSH THE FLT ONWARD WHEN WE NEEDED TO TAKE A STEP BACKWARD AND RE-EVALUATE WHAT WAS IN FRONT OF US. WHILE WE DID NOT FLY THROUGH A TSTM; WE ENDED UP IN THE POS OF HAVING TO CHOSE BTWN 2 ALTERNATIVES -- NEITHER ONE OF WHICH WAS A GOOD ONE. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 473492: I CALLED THE CTL FACILITY DISCUSSING THE EVENTS. HE FELT A PLTDEV RPT NEEDED TO BE FILED AFTER HIS DISCUSSION WITH ME. MY WIFE RECEIVED A PHONE CALL FROM THE MSN CTL CTR. HE ASKED MY WIFE TO GIVE ME A MESSAGE THAT A PLTDEV RPT WILL NOT BE FILED BECAUSE OF THE MAJOR WX THAT THEY RECEIVED. HE WAS MORE THAN HAPPY TO EXPLAIN TO ME HOW I COULD DO A BETTER JOB THE NEXT TIME. I COULD HAVE DECLARED AN EMER. I DISCUSSED THIS ISSUE WITH MY INTEREST OF LEARNING WHAT I MIGHT HAVE DONE TO ASSIST MYSELF AND THE CTLR; AND THEN ADVISING WHEN THE EMER SIT HAS TERMINATED WHEN CLR OF THE WX.