Comments on “The Impact of the Ice Phase and Radiation on a Midlatitude Squall Line System”

Abstract

This comment addresses two conclusions arising from a modeling study of Chin: that the contribution of mesoscale stratiform areas to large-scale heat and moisture budgets at midlatitudes is small compared to that associated with deep convection and that longwave radiative processes are the cause of the transition zone. A review of the literature and a comparison to another simulated squall line reaffirm the long-standing result that mesoscale stratiform precipitation regions often contribute significantly to the large-scale heating and moistening and demonstrate that longwave radiation is just one of the many factors that modify the kinematic and micro-physical processes that form the transition zone.