So the answer is: Earth Farts.
Beat me to it.
And the Greenies though that cow farts were bad.
I flown over that area 1000s (ok, probably 100s) of times.
Violent storms happen pretty quickly there with little warning.
Bad enough in an airplane where you can generally outrun or overfly them; given the fairly large number of shallow reefs in the area (as I understand it; not a sailor), I would think it would rather difficult.
Great science! Just take a discovery thousands of miles away and apply to to a different area and assume that the cause is the same without looking.
I thought it was only Justice that was supposed to be blind ...