Review comment on “Local spatial variability in the occurrence of summer precipitation in the Sør Rondane Mountains, Antarctica“ by Ferrone et al, 2023.

In this study the authors analysed the local special variability of snow observed in Antarctica along a transect of three micro-rain radars (MRR-PRO). They found events with precipitating snow reaching the surface but also snow sublimating (virga) on their fall. WRF model simulations were used to find differences in the meteorological conditions between surface precipitation events and virga events. Era5 model output were used to account for large scale conditions (passing low pressure systems).

The study is well written and to the point. One can easily follow each analysis and interpretation. A red thread is recognizable at all times. The authors illuminate the subject sufficiently with literature and emphasize the importance of observations of snow in the mountains of Antarctica.

Both the scientific quality and the quality of the presentation are very good and the explanations are a pleasure to read.

The topic of this publication is within the scope of The Cryosphere and I recommend publication after integrating some minor questions, suggestion and comments listed below:

Line 218: you write: “0.25◦ × 0.25◦ horizontal grid”. How many kilometers are these in Antarctica? Please add this information.

Line 316: Here you use a fixed delay in 15-minute increments. Why didn't you use autocorrelation to find the delay with the highest correlation on a better resolution?

Line 331: Here you write: “at least 5 levels”. What is the vertical resolution of the wrf model or how many levels does it have? Please mention somewhere (i.e. in the WRF section)

Line 341: I think it would be beneficial if you would mention the comparison between MRR and WRF output earlier in this section.

Line 360: Please say a few words about the supersaturation (values above 100%). Are these real or typical values or is it model uncertainty?

Line 394: “MRR06” should be “MRR-PRO 06”, right? Please change.

Line 417: Here, I suggest to summarize the section with one sentence. Why the wind direction analysis is important. Or what was expected?

In this paper the variability in precipitation occurrences is characterized along a transect instrumented with 3 micro rain radars. This dataset is used in combination with reanalyses and modelling products to describe the synoptic conditions that lead to the partial or complete sublimation of precipitation as it passes through the atmosphere. The objectives are clearly exposed, the paper is well written, nicely structured and very pleasant to read. I particularly appreciated the recurrent discussion of the limitations of the (thorough) methodology and the assumptions made in interpreting the results, as well as the effort to summarise the main results in the form of a conceptual diagram given in the conclusion.

Overall this article is well suited for The Cryosphere. I don't have much to add, except for the very few minor comments below, which may help to make a modest improvement to an already very accomplished article. Once they have been addressed, I recommend the publication without further iteration.

L86: The main results of this analysis (as outlined in Appendix A with “These results suggest that precipitation was significantly more frequent than usual during the period of deployment of the MRR-PRO transect. This frequency of occurrence, however, did not correspond to a similarly exceptional total accumulation”) could be recalled here in one brief sentence, as they put the peculiar conditions of your period of interest in a broader climatic perspective.

Fig.2 you may want to specify that contours are shown every 200 m here.

L180-187: Does uncertainty could be quantify using WRF simulations? For instance, looking at the distribution of the the ratio of modelled precipitation rates at the atmospheric level closest to 300 m and at the surface, could be a first attempt, from a modelling perspective, to quantify the uncertainty introduced when considering precipitation at 300 m as surface precipitation.

Section 2.2: How many levels are used to represent the atmosphere? How are they discretized along the atmospheric column? This must be added to Section 2.2 for exhaustivity.

L259: correct “on one hand”

L275-276: Is this analysis procedure also shared with Jullien et al. (2020)? If yes, you should  mention it so the complementarity between all these different studies can be strengthen.

L375: Is 1 m/s a typical sedimentation velocity for solid hydrometeors? Any reference to support your choice?

Fig. 7: Maybe specify that the Height in the vertical axis is given in km above sea level