A tropical wave is usually preceded by an area of sinking, intensely dry air, sloping as a northeast wind. With the passage of the trough line, the wind turns to the southeast, the humidity suddenly rises, and the atmosphere destabilizes, producing widespread showers and thunderstorms, sometimes severe. As the wave moves off westward, the showers slowly stop.
A notable exception to the general characteristic of widespread precipitation behind a tropical wave occurs in the Atlantic. Periodically, a surge of intensely dry air known as the Saharan Air Layer (SAL) is entrained behind a tropical wave, resulting in cloudless or nearly cloudless skies as convection is limited by the dry layer inversion. Also, any dust which may be present within the SAL reflects solar radiation, slightly cooling the atmosphere below it.
Tropical waves in the Atlantic Ocean form from disturbances which drift off the continent of Africa onto the Atlantic Ocean. These are generated or enhanced by the African Easterly Jet. The clockwise circulation of the large transoceanic high-pressure cell or anticyclone centered near the Azores islands impels easterly waves away from the coastal areas of Africa to North America. About 60% of Atlantic tropical cyclones originally form from tropical waves, while about 85% of intense Atlantic hurricanes (Category 3 and greater) form from tropical waves.
Tropical cyclones can sometimes degenerate back into a tropical wave. This normally happens if upper-level wind shear is too strong. The storm can redevelop if the upper level shear decreases or stops. If a tropical wave is moving quickly, it can have strong winds of over tropical storm force, but is not considered a tropical storm unless it has a closed circulation.
It has been suggested that eastern Pacific Ocean tropical cyclones are formed out of tropical waves that come from North Africa as well. During the summer months, tropical waves can go northward as far as the desert southwest of the United States, producing spells of intensified shower activity surrounded within the current monsoon area.
Brownsville, Texas
Brownsville is a city in the southern tip of Texas. As of 2005, 167,493 people lived there.
Agar
Agar is a substance jelly-like jelly made from from red algae. It consists of agarose and a mixture of molecules known as agaropectin.
You can grow bacteria on agar plates: that is how bacteria are laid out for testing in hospital pathology departments. It is used as a place to grow bacteria in an microbiology laboratory.
Domestically, it is used to make desserts, as a laxative, and in the process of brewing.
The word "agar" comes from the Malay word agar-agar, a word which is used for "red algae", where the jelly comes from.
Australian Air Force Cadets
The Australian Air Force Cadets (AAFC) is a youth organisation in Australia. The goal of the organisation it to help prepare young people for adult life. It was first created on July 11, 1941 with the name Air Training Corps. It was created to give training to young men (ages 14 to 20) who were interested in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The name was changed in 2001.
Cable
A communication cable is made of many wires or optical fibers twisted together to make a larger wire. Each of these wires may be covered. Some cables contain both electrical wires and optical fibers. There are many kinds of cables, including coaxial cables which block out radio or magnetic interference from other wires or cables, by having one wire inside an insulated tube surrounded by a second wire, acting as a metal tube along the same axis.
Electrical cables are usually made of copper, because electricity moves well through copper, but it is not as expensive as silver or other better conductors. Cables are sometimes made of aluminium because it is cheaper than copper.
The word "cable" is also used as ellipsis, or a short form, for "cable TV".
Wire ropes are a common type of cable. A cable car is a trolley pulled by a cable.
Yellow jersey
The Yellow jersey (French: Maillot jaune [majo ʒoːn]) is the jersey worn by the leader of many multi-day (or "stage") bicycle races, originally and most notably the Tour de France. It allows the rider who was in the overall lead at the end of the previous day to be easily identified.
Because the Tour de France was the first to use a coloured jersey to identify the leader many newer races have chosen the same colour, for example the Tour of Germany. Other tours and races use other colours, sometimes because of the .
The Giro d'Italia, Tour of Italy, have a pink jersey (maglia rosa). The race's original sponsor was the sports newspaper (La Gazzetta dello Sport) which printed on pink paper, like many European sports newspapers.
The leader in the Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain) wears a red jersey (called "La Roja"). From 1998 to 2010 the Vuelta leader's jersey was gold in color.
Sometimes a rider will get three yellow jerseys.
They will sometimes also autograph many copies of the jersey that are given out to VIPs with the race and their team.Green jersey
In road bicycle racing, and especially the three Grand Tour stage races Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana, the Green jersey is the name given to a cycling jersey worn by the leader in a subsidiary competition.
For example, while the overall race leader in the Tour de France will wear the yellow jersey, or "maillot jaune", the green jersey ("maillot vert") will be worn by the leader in the points competition for sprinters.
In the Vuelta a Espana, the green jersey is worn by the "King of the Mountains", the leader in the competition for the best climber. The Giro d'Italia also used a green jersey for its "King of the Mountains" from 1974 to 2011, but that jersey was changed to a blue jersey, starting in 2012.
The following events use the "green jersey" to signify the current leader and/or final winner of the overall classification by time
The following events use the "green jersey" to signify the current leader and/or final winner of the overall classification by points (often known as the sprinters competition):
The following events use the "green jersey" to signify the current leader and/or final winner of the overall classification of the best climber :
Rainbow jersey
The Rainbow jersey is a special jersey worn by world champion cyclists during races.
It is mainly white with five horizontal bands in the UCI colours around the chest. From the bottom up the colours are: green, yellow, black, red and blue, the same colours that appear in the rings on the olympic flag. There are different jerseys for each discipline (road racing, track racing, cyclo-cross, BMX, and the types of mountain biking).
A cyclist must wear the jersey when competing in the same discipline, category and speciality that he is world champion for. For example, the world road race champion would wear the jersey while competing in stage races and one-day races, but would not during time trials. Similarly, on the track, the world individual pursuit champion would only wear the jersey when competing in other individual pursuit events.
A champion who does not wear the rainbow jersey can be fined 2500 to 5000 Swiss francs.
The team's sponsor pays a lot of money to have their name on each rider's jersey. They can still put their names on the world champion's jersey, but probably smaller because there is less space. Sponsors do not mind because the world champion gets a lot more publicity than ordinary riders.
A world champion who is leading a stage race wears the race-leader's jersey, not the world champion's, but only while he is the leader.
Derny race
A derny race is a race in which the cyclists are paced by someone riding a derny.
A Derny is a motorised bicycle designed and built for motor-paced cycling events (e.g.: motor-paced races in six-day and Keirin racing) or motor-paced road races.