Latent heating associated with a rapidly developing cyclone over the North Atlantic Ocean

The impact of latent heat release (LHR) on a rapidly developing extratropical cyclone is assessed by comparing the height tendencies forced by LHR with the total height tendency as represented by the extended height-tendency equation. In addition, the calculated LHR estimates are assessed using satellite information and observed precipitation rates. It is concluded that the calculated values underestimate the magnitude of LHR consistently. Furthermore, the over-water LHR patterns require adjustment in order to render them more consistent with the satellite-observed precipitating cloud features.