Narrative:

A line of WX from toronto, canada, past indianapolis, forced all ord traffic from and to east coast to be routed through northern michigan sector. A 1.5 hour advance notice given but no overtime called in. Flow control plan was to route inbounds over tvc, departures west, then north of inbounds. A good plan if it had been followed. ZAU short cut 2 streams: 1 head-on with arrs, the other to the east. This created 3 more confliction points in sector and overloaded it with no additional staffing to help. When short cuts were brought to 2 supervisors' attention, nothing was done to remedy situation. Flow control was not made aware of nor caught the short cuts. The short cut aircraft were merged into a new stream on the toronto center boundary head-on with the arrival stream. Because we were short staffed and we must pass flight plans manually with canada, abbreviated flight plans were passed on handoff. Also, because of poor radar coverage, incoming traffic is not seen until 15 mi from boundary. In this situation, neither controller on either side knew what was coming for 2 hours in the heat of the battle. Aircraft were told to 'descend immediately' on occasion as traffic popped up on the boundary in direct conflict.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ARTCC CTLR STATES THAT WX CAUSED REROUTING OF TFC AND INCREASED WORKLOAD. NO OVERTIME WAS CALLED OUT TO HANDLE THE ADDITIONAL TFC.

Narrative: A LINE OF WX FROM TORONTO, CANADA, PAST INDIANAPOLIS, FORCED ALL ORD TFC FROM AND TO EAST COAST TO BE ROUTED THROUGH NORTHERN MICHIGAN SECTOR. A 1.5 HR ADVANCE NOTICE GIVEN BUT NO OVERTIME CALLED IN. FLOW CTL PLAN WAS TO RTE INBOUNDS OVER TVC, DEPS W, THEN N OF INBOUNDS. A GOOD PLAN IF IT HAD BEEN FOLLOWED. ZAU SHORT CUT 2 STREAMS: 1 HEAD-ON WITH ARRS, THE OTHER TO THE E. THIS CREATED 3 MORE CONFLICTION POINTS IN SECTOR AND OVERLOADED IT WITH NO ADDITIONAL STAFFING TO HELP. WHEN SHORT CUTS WERE BROUGHT TO 2 SUPVRS' ATTN, NOTHING WAS DONE TO REMEDY SIT. FLOW CTL WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF NOR CAUGHT THE SHORT CUTS. THE SHORT CUT ACFT WERE MERGED INTO A NEW STREAM ON THE TORONTO CTR BOUNDARY HEAD-ON WITH THE ARR STREAM. BECAUSE WE WERE SHORT STAFFED AND WE MUST PASS FLT PLANS MANUALLY WITH CANADA, ABBREVIATED FLT PLANS WERE PASSED ON HDOF. ALSO, BECAUSE OF POOR RADAR COVERAGE, INCOMING TFC IS NOT SEEN UNTIL 15 MI FROM BOUNDARY. IN THIS SIT, NEITHER CTLR ON EITHER SIDE KNEW WHAT WAS COMING FOR 2 HRS IN THE HEAT OF THE BATTLE. ACFT WERE TOLD TO 'DSND IMMEDIATELY' ON OCCASION AS TFC POPPED UP ON THE BOUNDARY IN DIRECT CONFLICT.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.