The influence of surface heating of a circular cylinder on the wake structure and heat transfer in the range of Reynolds number (Re) for which parallel vortex shedding occurs, is investigated numerically for different values of the buoyancy parameter, Gr. The role of buoyancy induced baroclinic vorticity on the wake formation is addressed in the present study. The variation of Strouhal number and Nusselt number with the 'effective Reynolds number', is analyzed for different values of cylinder to free stream temperature ratio. Both Strouhal number and the rate of heat transfer increases monotonically with the increase of the effective Reynolds number. The validity of the correlations, which have been established by several authors, between the effective Reynolds number and Strouhal/ Nusselt number for forced convection, is examined in the mixed convection regime. The curves between the effective Reynolds number and the computed data for Strouhal number and Nusselt number do not collapse for the range of temperature ratio considered here. The flow field is found to be asymmetric and the cylinder experiences a negative lift. The drag coefficient increases steadily with the rise of surface temperature. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.