The latest on Singapore Airlines turbulence incident

['Lauren Said-Moorhouse', "Cnn'S Lauren Said-Moorhouse", 'Cnn Meteorologist Brandon Miller', "Cnn'S Ross Levitt", "Cnn'S Kocha Olarn In Bangkok", 'Cnn S Kocha Olarn In Bangkok', 'Hamdi Alkhshali', "Cnn'S Tamara Hardingham-Gill", "Cnn'S Catherine Nicholls In London", 'Catherine Nicholls In London'] CNN Asia 2024-05-21 13:30:37

Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 likely encountered rapidly developing thunderstorms over southern Myanmar on Tuesday during the time that extreme turbulence was reported. A CNN Weather analysis of satellite data shows an area of developing thunderstorms over the Irrawaddy Delta [a river in Myanmar] between 7 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. GMT (early afternoon local time). This corresponds to the same time and location reported by the airline and independent data analysis of the flight path from FlightRadar24. Budding thunderstorms like Tuesday’s may not appear on radar in their earliest stages, even though the quick rising motion within them can still produce turbulence. The storm cells likely grew from 20,000 to 30,000 feet to well over 50,000 feet in less than an hour.