Numerical simulations are carried out to investigate the thermal effects of the gravitational potential on the centrifugal instability of a Taylor-Couette flow, and to further study the detailed flow fields and flow bifurcations to spiral vortices. The effects of centrifugal potential on the centrifugal instability are also investigated in the current study. Spiral vortices have various types of mode depending on Grashof number and Reynolds number. The correlation of Richardson number with the spiral angle of the spiral vortices shows that the structure of the spiral vortices strongly depends on the Richardson number. The heat transfer rate of the inner cylinder increases with increasing Grashof number. It is also confirmed that the torque required to rotate the inner cylinder increases as Grashof number increases.