We have previously posted about the sinking of the school ship Concordia in February off the coast of Brazil.  Now, after examining satellite data and weather reports, a U. S. meteorologist, Ken Pryor of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has concluded that the school ship Concordia was probably struck by a “microburst,”  confirming earlier speculation.

U.S. expert says microburst hit N.S.-based sailing school that sank off Brazil

Pryor found the data showed three key weather conditions came together to cause a severe microburst or downburst that likely hit the ship with downward winds in excess of 120 km-h.

“I’m very certain that this was a severe downburst to be able to capsize a ship like that,” he said from his office in Camp Springs, Maryland.   ”I was able to identify satellite signatures or features that corresponded directly to microburst occurrence.”

Those features included a notch of dry air that was being channelled into a thunderstorm, providing the energy for potent winds that blew down on the 57-metre training ship. The notch was “pointing directly to the location of the Concordia and thus, the vessel was in the direct path of downburst winds,” Pryor said on his blog, which contains satellite imagery of the weather features.

Crew had suspected a microburst struck the ship because of the intense winds that blasted quickly down on them after midday as some rested in their bunks or attended classes on the floating school. But they hadn’t before had an analysis of satellite data to support their suspicions.