THE IMPACT OF THE ICE PHASE AND RADIATION ON A MIDLATITUDE SQUALL LINE SYSTEM

This comment addresses two conclusions arising from a modeling study o f Chin: that the contribution of mesoscale stratiform areas to large-s cale heat and moisture budgets at midlatitudes is small compared to th at associated with deep convection and that longwave radiative process es are the cause of the transition zone. A review of the literature an d a comparison to another simulated squall line reaffirm the long-stan ding result that mesoscale stratiform precipitation regions often cont ribute significantly to the large-scale heating and moistening and dem onstrate that longwave radiation is just one of the many factors that modify the kinematic and microphysical processes that form the transit ion zone.