a cell just on my way and there was no returns on the radar
. More detail needed about height flying and height of CB tops. At high altitude in auto-gain on some radars there will be no return from clouds tops due no moisture. That is why at night or in IMC aircraft often get clobbered by severe turbulence due to CB top not visible on radar.
Again, on some radars it is best to set the gain control to max gain at high altitude and this usually gives a small echo which signifies a CB top. As some CB tops in the Pacific area can be over 63,000 ft known as super-cells, an inadvertent trip through that lot will shake you up and has been known to cause a dual flame-out. Happened to a Garuda 737 that made a dead stick flapless ditching. Max gain at high altitude cruise will usually give you a better chance of "seeing" ahead.