Narrative:

Departing to the south from tpa we turned to a suggested heading of 345 degrees by tampa departure to avoid WX. Upon rolling out on 345 degrees the gap between WX cells began to narrow quickly. Other aircraft were calling tampa departure to deviate further east to avoid the WX cells. Unable to contact departure control because of other aircraft on the frequency, we turned to approximately 060 degrees to avoid a red cell on the radar. As soon as possible we communicated our intentions to tampa departure of our new heading. They advised us that they wished they had known the heading sooner and switched us to ZJX. No further incidents occurred.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN MD80 FLT CREW HAS TO DEVIATE FOR WX, BUT IS UNABLE TO TELL DEP CTL DUE TO A CONGESTED RADIO FREQ.

Narrative: DEPARTING TO THE S FROM TPA WE TURNED TO A SUGGESTED HEADING OF 345 DEGS BY TAMPA DEP TO AVOID WX. UPON ROLLING OUT ON 345 DEGS THE GAP BTWN WX CELLS BEGAN TO NARROW QUICKLY. OTHER ACFT WERE CALLING TAMPA DEP TO DEVIATE FURTHER E TO AVOID THE WX CELLS. UNABLE TO CONTACT DEP CTL BECAUSE OF OTHER ACFT ON THE FREQ, WE TURNED TO APPROX 060 DEGS TO AVOID A RED CELL ON THE RADAR. AS SOON AS POSSIBLE WE COMMUNICATED OUR INTENTIONS TO TAMPA DEP OF OUR NEW HEADING. THEY ADVISED US THAT THEY WISHED THEY HAD KNOWN THE HEADING SOONER AND SWITCHED US TO ZJX. NO FURTHER INCIDENTS OCCURRED.

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.