Nemrytter
I disagree. Our data shows that the most frequent route for MH17, used on around 50 flights this year, would have taken the aircraft through CBs that reached approx. FL360. The northerly path that MH17 took on this day (used by 3 other MH17 flights this year) avoided this and several other CBs.
I dont disagree with why it may have taken a more northerly routing based on forecasts, but on that day there were no CB's to the north or south in the area, in fact it was almost clear skies I know because we were flying in the area at the time it happened, yesterday we were in the southern area and there where a few towering cumulus along the northern coast of the Black Sea tops 310