As to the comment in post #808, perhaps a date joined cutoff?
Those who are questioning the AF crew's ACARS message to flight ops:
HF communication is often degraded within hundreds of miles of an active storm cell let alone being right on top of one. Over the ocean there is no VHF communication, which has the advantage of being less prone to the electrical arc noise that lightning produces. An ACARS communique would be the best way to pass along this information.