The theoretical description of the reorientational dynamics in a thin bidirectionally aligned liquid crystal (BALC) cell, where the nematic sample is confined by two horizontal and two lateral surfaces, under the influence of the temperature gradient del T is presented. We have carried out a numerical study of the system of hydrodynamic equations including director reorientation, fluid flow v, and the temperature redistribution across the BALC cell under the influence of del T, when the sample is heated both from below and from above. Calculations show that, due to interaction between the gradient of the director field del n and del T, the BALC sample settles down to a stationary bi-vortical flow regime. As for a nematogenic material, we have considered the BALC cell to be occupied by 4-n-pentyl-4'-cyanobiphenyl, and investigated the effect of both del n and del T on the magnitude and direction of v, for a number of hydrodynamic regimes. (C) 2012 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.