Air carrier flight crew reported they exceeded the 162 mile from shore limit while avoiding thunders...

Attributes
ACN	1565381
Time
Date	201808
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZHU.ARTCC
State Reference	TX
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Large Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Safety Instrumentation & Information
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Multiengine
Person 2
Function	Pilot Not Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Procedural FAR Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence

Narrative:

While deviating south of weather over the gulf of mexico we exceeded 162 miles from shore. I notified ATC that we were exercising emergency authority to do so during the duration of the exceedance and advised when back within 162 miles of shore. The flight was otherwise uneventful. Landed without further incident.wsi was inoperative. ATC advised that other aircraft had deviated to the south without problem. Also; our radar does not provide useful information when IMC. The radar look angle was 3 degrees low; and returns would appear and disappear as we tried to avoid the returns being displayed. Having seen during VMC that the radar paints cells that are not a factor (well below) it's difficult to get a good understanding of relevant weather ahead of you. Thus; the radar display must be honored and returns avoided.make wsi reliability a priority. Update weather radar software to show more relevant information (tops; as in terrain or radar tops maps available elsewhere; but certainly have the ability to see what is at your flight level or not).

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier flight crew reported they exceeded the 162 mile from shore limit while avoiding thunderstorms in the Gulf of Mexico area and with limited onboard weather information due to Wifi outage.

Narrative: While deviating south of weather over the Gulf of Mexico we exceeded 162 miles from shore. I notified ATC that we were exercising emergency authority to do so during the duration of the exceedance and advised when back within 162 miles of shore. The flight was otherwise uneventful. Landed without further incident.WSI was inoperative. ATC advised that other aircraft had deviated to the south without problem. Also; our radar does not provide useful information when IMC. The radar look angle was 3 degrees low; and returns would appear and disappear as we tried to avoid the returns being displayed. Having seen during VMC that the radar paints cells that are not a factor (well below) it's difficult to get a good understanding of relevant weather ahead of you. Thus; the radar display must be honored and returns avoided.Make WSI reliability a priority. Update weather radar software to show more relevant information (tops; as in terrain or radar tops maps available elsewhere; but certainly have the ability to see what is at your flight level or not).

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Air carrier flight crew reported they exceeded the 162 mile from shore limit while avoiding thunderstorms in the gulf of mexico area and with limited onboard weather information due to wifi outage.