As search and rescue operations are under way to locate the Air Franceaircraft suspected to have crashed off the coast of Brazil, AccuWeather.commeteorologists are investigating the weather patterns in the area of themissing plane during and prior to the suspected time of the incident Sundayevening. Weather-related possibilities being explored include lightning, heavyrain and turbulence.The projected flight path of flight 447 took the aircraft near Sao Luis,Brazil, where it may have first encountered a thunderstorm. Later in theflight, the plane appears it flew into or near a large cluster thunderstormsnortheast of Fernando De Noronha and southeast of the Cape Verde Islands.

Data shows that the thunderstorms over the tropical Atlantic Ocean wereproducing pockets of very heavy rain and and icing conditions. Icing on engineturbines and ingestion of heavy rainfall into the turbines could affect theperformance of jet engines. A bolt of lightning could have knocked out theaircraft's in-flight computer.

Despite the presence of several storms in the area Sunday evening, the onlylightning detected along the flight path was near Sao Luis, Brazil. There was acluster of storms north of the Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronha andalong the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), the belt of low pressure thatsurrounds the Earth at the equator. However, lightning strikes were not beingdetected at the time.

Tropical thunderstorms and the lightning patterns generated by them aredifferent from storms that typically occur over the United States. Studies haveshown that the top region of tropical thunderstorms is highly charged and moreconducive to lightning, which indicates that an airplane flying near the top ofa tropical thunderstorm could be more susceptible to a lightning strike.

Tropical thunderstorms are also notorious for producing frequentcloud-to-cloud, as well as cloud-to-air lightning.

Speculation centers around weather and electrical problems as reported byAir France. At the time of apparent disappearance, thunderstorms along theflight path were probably towering to a height of over 40,000 feet. Given thebreadth of the storms on the satellite images, it was probably tough for thepilots to avoid the storms. Flight AF 447 was reported to be flying at 35,000feet, which would mean the craft would have most likely flown through or arounda storm, especially one around 40,000 feet in the air.

In the meantime, the search and rescue operation is under way around theBrazilian island of Fernando de Noronha. That island lies just offshore ofBrazil's easternmost point. The ocean depth north and east of that island runs9,000 feet to 15,000 feet. Water temperature this time of year ranges from theupper 70s to low 80s.

The Brazilian Air Force reported the Airbus A330-200 plane carrying 228people last had radio contact around 8:30 p.m. Sunday, EDT, during its flightfrom Rio de Janeiro to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. An automated signal,indicating an electrical circuit failure, was transmitted from the aircraft at10:14 p.m.

Air France officials have stated the aircraft was a newer plane and waspiloted by experienced crewmembers. According to aviation experts on CNN.com,the Airbus 330-200 is widely used for transatlantic flights and is themanufacturer's newest twin-jet aircraft. The model has only one documentedincident involving a crash, which occurred during a test flight prior to themodel going into service.

The search area is massive, encompassing the area from off of the northeastcoast of Brazil to the Cape Verde Islands off the west coast of Africa. Thisarea is multiple times the size of the state of Texas.

Story by AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologists Kristina Pydynowski and HenryMargusity, and AccuWeather.com News Correspondent Gina Cherundolo