I very much enjoyed reading this manuscript on the relationships between temperature, precipitation, and weather systems. Rather than examining the precipitation distributions for different temperatures, the study examines the temperature distribution for intense precipitation days. It then attributes the precipitation to the weather system that is present at the same location to determine the relevance of the weather systems to the precipitation and temperature relationship. One result that I find particularly interesting, and one that clearly requires more investigating is the fact that in particular regions, the precipitation efficiency (the average rainfall per weather system day) is increased in the wettest season, despite decreased temperatures.

The paper is well-written and the figures are clear. I only have one main suggestion and a few typographical changes.

For the composite figures (Fig. 5 and 6), the wind, PV, and CAPE contours are shown for all wet days. These will then be most representative of the most common weather system for wet days at the location. I suggest it would be worth showing the composites for the wet days for each different weather system (even if only in the supplement). Are there other flow configurations that lead to wet days? Or do all the days with different weather systems look like the composites presented?

Minor points:

1. Line 145-146: I don’t understand what this means. How is the statistical robustness increased by doing this? Could this be explained in a different way?
2. Line 321: This is also shown by Hawcroft et al 2012, Catto and Dowdy 2021, Messmer and Simmonds 2021, Owen et al 2021.
3. Line 449: “less” -> “fewer”.
4. Line 450: Is it not the case the WCBs are always associated with cyclones, but not necessarily the other way round?
5. Line 456: “less” -> “fewer”.
6. Line 476-477: I find the structure of this sentence difficult to read. I suggest: “Warm conveyor belts contribute most to the total seasonal precipitation, in contrast to the wettest summer, followed by…”
7. Line 517: Suggest slight rewording. -> “Intense precipitation in winter in most regions occurs predominantly on warmer days….” Then “In summer, intense rain falls mostly on colder days…”.
8. Line 560: Suggest slight rewording: _. “hence, a higher temperature does not automatically imply…”
9. Figure 1c: I find it unclear what is happening in this panel, and the text does not help - could this be explained differently?

References:

Catto, J. L., and A. J. Dowdy (2021) Understanding compound hazards from a weather system perspective, Weather and Climate Extremes, 32, 100313, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2021.100313.

Hawcroft, M. K., Shaffrey, L. C., Hodges, K. I. & Dacre, H. F. How much Northern Hemisphere precipitation is associated with extratropical cyclones? Geophys. Res. Lett. 39, L24809 (2012).

Messmer, M. and Simmonds, I. (2021) Global analysis of cyclone-induced compound precipitation and wind extreme events. Weather and Climate Extremes, 32, 100324.

Owen, L. E., Catto, J. L., Stephenson, D. B., & Dunstone, N. J. (2021). Compound precipitation and wind extremes over Europe and their relationship to extratropical cyclones. Weather and Climate Extremes, 33, 100342.

General comments:

I found this manuscript to be generally well-written and clear. The graphics provide clear illustrations of the main results of the study.  The topic of the study has substantial scientific merit, and I expect it will be of interest to readers of WCD. I have a number of minor comments for the authors to consider. Once these comments are satisfactorily addressed, I believe this manuscript may be acceptable for publication.

Specific comments:

L83–86: "The combined effects...precipitation."  This statement needs references. Also, did you intend to say "from the southeast" instead of "from the southwest" here?

L148–149: A shortcoming of this method is that it does not account for the remote influences that the weather systems can have on precipitation, i.e., the fact that a weather system, such as a cyclone, can still have a significant influence on precipitation at a given location even if that system is not identified close to the location. For instance, a cyclone, as identified using the method of Wernli and Schwierz (2006), may be located well to the west of a location but may still drive moisture transport and forcing for ascent that contributes to the precipitation at that location. Similarly, anticyclones often play a key role in driving moisture transport associated with atmospheric rivers associated with extreme precipitation, but do not necessarily overlap the region of precipitation. Perhaps you can comment on these issues in the text?

L208–209: I find this statement confusing. I understand the argument that high baroclinicity can favor intense precipitation on warm days, but I do not understand how low baroclinicity provides a favorable condition for intense precipitation on colder days. Please clarify. Perhaps the occurrence of intense precipitation on colder days relates to a tendency for the precipitation in those locations to involve orographic forcing?

L217: Other factors that may contribute to this relationship include surface cold pool formation associated with moist convection, decreased insolation due to increased cloudiness, adiabatic cooling due associated with orographic ascent, and the occurence of precipitation in connection with the passage of weak cold fronts.

L294: Orographic forcing might also be an important process.

L308: How were the climatological relative frequencies for the weather systems computed? Are they computed using all days during Dec–Feb 1980–2019? Please clarify.

L330–331: This statement is vague. Can you be a bit more specific about what Hobbs et al. found in their study?

L332: It is perhaps worth mentioning is that this pattern is consistent with the occurrence of a cold surge along the Rocky Mountains (e.g., Colle and Mass 1995). Such cold surges involve cold air damming and the establishment of a strong sloping baroclinic zone. Precipitation within the cold air mass could be associated upslope flow along the mountains as well as ascent of warm conveyor belts along the sloping baroclinic zone.

• Colle, B. A., and C. F. Mass, 1995: The structure and evolution of cold surges east of the Rocky Mountains. Mon. Wea. Rev., 123, 2577–2610, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(1995)123<2577:TSAEOC>2.0.CO;2.

L337: This sentence is a bit confusing. What do you mean by 'evolve' here? Can you be more specific?

L359–361: I am having difficulty following this physical explanation.

L546: To which "smaller-scale processes" are you referring here? Be specific.

Technical corrections:

L88: "CAPE" has not been defined in the text.

L89: Remove comma after "analyse" ?

L320: Remove "dominating"

L328: Change "Nevada" to "Madre"

L328–330: "Interestingly...convection." This seems to be a run-on sentence.

L388: Insert "those in" before "winter"

L496: Insert "are" after "anticyclones"