Abstract: This paper mainly presents the rapid development of short range weather forecast in some countries with the development of computer and new sounding measures, especially the remote sensing technique since the 1970s. The paper puts emphasis on the short range weather forecast for meso-small scale systems, some plans in 5—10 years and problems at present as well as the coming problems in the mid–1990s in the United States of America and so on. The paper reviews the general aspects of short range weather forecast in China and presents the progress of short range weather forecast in China since the 1980s stressing on the working stations, the sounding networks and the telecommunication networks which have been establishing in the four bases of the Zhujiang Delta, the Yangtze Delta, Jingjinji (Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei Province) and the middle-upper reaches of Yangtze River, as well as the analysis research on the severe convective weather and nowcasting in these four bases