Weather has been raised by officials and reporters as a factor in the lossof Air France flight 447, which went missing on Sunday evening, EDT. Theflight, bound to Paris, France, from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was last believedto be at over the tropical Atlantic Ocean off northeastern Brazil at the timeof its disappearance. This is an area where the weather can be turbulent andstormy.During late spring, the area of Atlantic Ocean off northeastern Brazil andlying within about 5 degrees of latitude of the Equator is home to the InterTropical Convergence. Girdling the Earth's tropics in a nearly unbroken belt,this corridor is where winds converge from both the north and the south to feedoutbreaks of showers and towering thunderstorms.
Late on Sunday, a few thunderstorms were indeed present in a wide corridorstraddling the Equator. It is possible that the flight encountered one of thesethunderstorms. Still, modern jetliners are able to withstand confrontationswith thunderstorms, even direct lightning strikes.
As of Monday morning, a search was underway over as swathe of oceansurrounding the Island of Fernando de Noronha.
Story by AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Jim Andrews.
