Thunderstorms and total lightning characteristics causing heavy precipitation in Japan: A case study

We have analyzed an isolated, multicellular thunderstorm event with heavy precipitation (∼100 mm/h) that occurred in Saitama, Japan. The X-band multi-parameter radar-derived 3D volume scan and ground-based total lightning data provide detailed spatio-temporal dependences of precipitation cores in different altitudes and associated different types of lightning. We found the development of high altitude (∼7–10 km) precipitation core shows a high correlation with the in-cloud lightning rate and the peak of IC lightning occurred 5–10 min prior to subsequent heavy precipitation on the ground. Again, ground precipitation shows a higher correlation with −CG than +CG without significant time lag. Therefore, monitoring total lightning activity during thunderstorms can be useful for nowcasting and short-time prediction of ground precipitation volume.