The results of computations of the radial circulation and associated surface pressure tendencies, needed to retain gradient wind balance in a model of an axisymmetric cyclone, due to the action of diabatic heating and boundary layer pumping, are presented. These computations show that diabatic heating will not induce further deepening (i. e. intensification) of the cyclone when this cyclone is weak and has a cold core. On the other hand, a relatively intense warmcore balanced cyclone will deepen appreciably, depending on the degree of baroclinicity and on where exactly the heat sources are located.

These results underline the fact that Conditional Instability of the Second Kind (CISK) must be interpreted as a finite-amplitude instability. CISK cannot explain the genesis of a cyclone, such as a polar low or hurricane.