In a cristal blue sky, an early right turn as we passed out over the Med revealed an awesome sight from wence we had come. Something like an atom bomb having exploded over the city. CBs are dangerous but if you know what you are doing...
Debatable if they did "know what they were doing" I reckon.
If you the a/c was in the cell as you say when you lined up, yet clear of it when you were airborne, then they had to pass through any gust fronts that it produced, considering that
it went very dark except for the frequent flashes of lightning. Dust was swirling round the aircraft in a most alarming way.
I imagine it could well have had some nasty windshears around its edges....wouldn't want 40kts of negative as you were due to rotate.....dumb.