[Smokin' Joe]

I may be off base here, others are more knowledgeable. If the damage caused a breach in the wing undersurface or the landing gear bay, how open is the space inside the wing?

Presumably the structural elements are not solid (to conserve weight) and the plume of superheated material would blow into the hollow wing space, with vortices I don't pretend to be able to predict or model. (I'm only a rock scientist--no ET)

This might account for the pattern of temperature increases, plume circulation changing with the geometry of the eroding breach. Eventually, with drag or structural failure causing loss of attitude control and the orbiter.

[Budge]

It is fairly open. There are some links to drawings posted here but I don't know the exact posts. However, check what I have at Fotki. You may find what you're looking for there. The link is here.