I read the paper by Doensen et al. (2026) with great interest. The study examines the effect of climate change on the most intense Mediterranean cyclones and quantifies the associated changes in induced extreme weather. The manuscript is generally well written, and the methods and overall scientific approach appear appropriate for addressing the stated objectives. I have only minor concerns regarding some of the results themselves; however, my main impression is that the discussion needs to be improved. In these regards, I would like to highlight two main issues:

1. Use of vague language.

   There are several points in the manuscript where the language lacks technical precision. As a result, important details are not sufficiently highlighted, which in turn affects the significance and clarity of the paper. I would advise the authors to revise the text carefully in order to improve precision and scientific accuracy.

2. Interesting results, but limited discussion.

   The results are interesting and insightful, but their discussion remains underdeveloped. Much of Section 3 appears to describe the figures, without sufficiently connecting the findings to previous studies and without clearly showing how the present work expands existing knowledge. In my view, a stronger discussion would considerably enhance the value of the paper. For instance, several previous studies, some of which are already cited in the manuscript, have statistically described the effects of climate change on extreme cyclones and, more generally, on extremes in the Mediterranean region. By contrast, the three-dimensional composite structures -provided here- represent a more original contribution. However, the manuscript does not clearly reveal how these results build upon and extend previous knowledge.

My recommendation is major revision, mainly because addressing these issues requires more than minor editing. The following specific comments mainly outline issues related with the two concerns right above.

Title: At first glance, it is not entirely clear whether “Extreme Mediterranean cyclones” refers to weather extremes associated with cyclones or to cyclones of extreme intensity. Please revise the title for clarity.

Line 22: What is meant by “heavy windstorm”?

Lines 34–65: These paragraphs are informative, but they are somewhat disconnected. It would help if the phrasing were more clearly articulated and if some synthesis were added to guide the reader regarding what should be retained and how it connects to this study.

Lines 51–52: Please articulate this more clearly with the following sentence.

Line 178: grid point

Lines 181–183: How do these results compare with previous studies, for example Reale et al. (2021)?

Line 193: subpanel → panel

Lines 194–196: The language is familiar here. Please be more specific.

Lines 193–207: These lines seem somewhat superficially descriptive of the figures. Please discuss these results in relation to previous studies and provide a clearer conclusion to Section 3.1.

Line 211: “general structure” is too vague. Please be more specific. It would also be useful to discuss whether this structure is systematic across the systems considered. Is there any indication of how many medicanes, as recently defined by Miglietta et al. (2025), are included in your dataset?

Miglietta, M. M., and Coauthors, 2025: Defining Medicanes: Bridging the Knowledge Gap between Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones in the Mediterranean. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 106, E1955–E1971, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-24-0289.1. 

Section 3.2: Could you please compare and discuss your findings with previous studies showing an overall decrease in cyclone-related precipitation under climate change in the Mediterranean (e.g. Reale et al., 2021; Chericoni et al., 2025)?

Line 257: I think that the vertical gradient of θe is related to potential instability, that is, it may help explain the stronger link between frontal structures and precipitation. If so, please revise accordingly.

Lines 254–259: Several studies have shown that stronger diabatic forcing can lead to smaller, more compact cyclones. Could this help explain the positive–negative rainfall pattern in Fig. 5? Could it also explain the more uniform pattern mentioned in line 305 (perhaps “more axisymmetric” is what is meant)?

Lines 266–267: Givon et al. (2024) showed that different clusters of PV intrusions are related to the mature stage of Mediterranean cyclones (their Fig. 3). Is it possible that future cyclones may fall into, or preferentially favour, different clusters? Perhaps PV could also be included in Fig. 8 so that the reader can better assess whether the vertical cross-sections in Fig. 6 are comparing similar three-dimensional structures.

Givon, Y., Hess, O., Flaounas, E., Catto, J. L., Sprenger, M., and Raveh-Rubin, S.: Process-based classification of Mediterranean cyclones using potential vorticity, Weather Clim. Dynam., 5, 133–162, [https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-133-2024](https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-133-2024), 2024.

Line 268: “When looking ..., we see .. general decrease...” Please avoid overly vague language throughout the paper. At times, this comes at the expense of precision regarding the results and the points that the reader should focus on most.

Lines 321–329: My impression is that this part should be linked more directly to Fig. 6, or perhaps the two discussions could be merged.

Lines 321–322: Could you please explain why? A stronger cyclone could also be related to stronger diabatic forcing.

Line 326: “This hints...” is again somewhat informal. Also, the merging of the jets appears to be atypical in intense Mediterranean cyclones; see Fig. 10 of Flaounas et al. (2015).

Flaounas, E., Raveh-Rubin, S., Wernli, H. et al. The dynamical structure of intense Mediterranean cyclones. Clim Dyn 44, 2411–2427 (2015). [https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-014-2330-2](https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-014-2330-2)

Line 379: “quite some spread” is another example of overly familiar language. Please be more precise.