抄録
Several methods of nowcasting thundercloud lightning activities have been presented for the past few decades, using weather charts and/or stability index of upper air profiles. In this paper, the author indicates a new nowcasting method by using weather radar observations and several lightning detection systems. The first lightning discharge occurs about 5 minutes after the moderate echo top reaches the -20 degree of centigrade level, and the peak lightning activity occurs as several cells of strong echo descent from the -10 degree of centigrade level to the 0 degree of centigrade level, respectively. A single flash lightning discharge, ''Ippatsu-ra'' in Japanese, occurs as the cell of moderate echo descent from -20 to -10 degree of centigrade level to 0 degree of centigrade level (near sea or ground surface).
