1.
Gemini 4
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Gemini 4 was the second manned space flight in NASAs Project Gemini, occurring in June 1965. It was the tenth manned American spaceflight, astronauts James McDivitt and Edward H. White, II circled the Earth 66 times in four days, making it the first US flight to approach the five-day flight of the Soviet Vostok 5. The highlight of the mission was the first space walk by an American, during which White floated free outside the spacecraft, tethered to it, both of these accomplishments helped the United States overcome the Soviet Unions early lead in the Space Race. The four-day, 66-orbit flight would approach but not break the record set by the Soviet Vostok 5 in June 1963. Subsequent Gemini flights would be longer, to prove endurance exceeding the required to fly to the Moon. A second objective was the first American extra-vehicular activity, known popularly as a space walk, the first space walk had already been performed by Soviet Alexei Leonov on Voskhod 2 in March 1965. NASA moved up the spacewalk from the schedule, to demonstrate that the US was gaining on the early lead taken by the Soviets in what was known as the Space Race. A third objective was for Gemini 4 to attempt the first space rendezvous, the broadcast of the launch was itself historic. For the first time an international audience, from 12 European nations, Flight control shifted from Cape Kennedy to Houston as soon as the vehicle cleared the launch tower. Except for a few moments of pogo oscillation, the launch came off perfectly, on the first orbit, McDivitt attempted to rendezvous with the spent Titan second stage. This was unsuccessful for a number of reasons, NASA engineers had not yet worked out the idiosyncrasies of orbital mechanics involved in rendezvous, simply thrusting the spacecraft toward the target changed its orbital altitude and velocity relative to the target. When McDivitt tried this, he found himself moving away and downward, as the retrograde thrust lowered his orbit, the stage was dumping its residual propellant, causing it to move around in various directions relative to the Gemini. There were only two running lights on the stage, which made it hard at times for McDivitt to determine its orientation, McDivitt concluded that a rendezvous target should have at least three lights. There was no radar on board Gemini 4 to give a range to the target, so the astronauts had to rely on their visual depth perception to estimate the range. Initially McDivitt estimated the distance at 400–500 feet, while White believed it was closer, at the worst point, McDivitt estimated it was about a half mile away, while Whites estimate was three-quarters of a mile. McDivitt estimated he was able to get as close as 200 feet, after expending almost half his thruster fuel, McDivitt finally gave up, in order to concentrate on the more important EVA objective. After the rendezvous, Gemini 4s orbit was now 89.2 by 155 nautical miles, twenty-two hours into the mission, Mission Control estimated the orbit would decay to 81 by 125.7 nautical miles at the end of 63 revolutions. After a rest, the pair finished performing the checklist for the EVA, flying over Carnarvon, Australia, they began to depressurize the cabin
2.
Humid subtropical climate
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A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterised by hot, usually humid summers and mild to cool winters. It normally lies on the southeast side of all continents, generally between latitudes 25° and 40° and it tends to be located at coastal or near coastal locations. However, in cases it extends inland, most notably in China. Under the Köppen climate classification, subtropical climates are found in the warmest parts of his Warm Temperate climates or Cfa and this climate features mean temperatures in the coldest month between 0 °C and 18 °C and mean temperatures in the warmest month 22 °C or higher. However, while some climatologists have opted to describe this type as a humid subtropical climate Köppen himself never used this term. The humid subtropical climate classification was created under the Trewartha Climate classification. The Trewartha system was a 1966 update of the Köppen climate classification and this was seen to effectively separate temperate climates like London or New York City from true subtropical locations like Brisbane or Savannah for example. Rainfall often shows a peak, especially where monsoons are well developed, as in Southeast Asia. Most summer rainfall occurs during thunderstorms that build up due to the surface heating and strong subtropical sun angle. Weak tropical lows that move in from adjacent warm tropical oceans, winter rainfall is often associated with large storms in the westerlies that have fronts that reach down into subtropical latitudes. However, many subtropical climates such as southeast Asia or Florida have very dry winters, with frequent brush fires, in Africa, the humid subtropical climates are found in two separate areas on the southern hemisphere of the continent. The Cwa climate is found over a portion of the interior of the Middle. Some lower portions of the Ethiopian Highlands also have this climate, the climate is also found in the narrow coastal sections of southern and eastern South Africa, primarily in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape provinces. South Africas version of this climate features heavy oceanic influences resulting in milder temperatures. This is particularly evident in its winters when temperatures do not drop as low as in other regions within the humid subtropical category. Locations in Asia with a subtropical climate differ from those in other continents in that they often have marked seasonal differences in precipitation. Cities near the boundary of this zone include Hong Kong, Hanoi. At Hainan Island and in Taiwan, the transitions from subtropical into fully tropical
3.
Trans-Pecos
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The Trans-Pecos, as originally defined in 1887 by the Texas geologist Robert T. Hill, is the portion of Texas that lies west of the Pecos River. The term is considered synonymous with Far West Texas, a subdivision of West Texas, the Trans-Pecos is part of the Chihuahuan Desert, the largest desert in North America. It is the most mountainous and arid portion of the state, the area is well known for the natural beauty of the Big Bend and the gorge of the Rio Grande, part of which has been designated a National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. With the notable exceptions of Big Bend Ranch State Park and Big Bend National Park, the vast majority of the regions population reside in the El Paso metropolitan area. The Trans-Pecos region consists of nine counties, Brewster, Culberson, El Paso, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Pecos, Presidio, Reeves, Brewster County, the largest, has a land area of 6,193 sq mi. However, Brewster County is not the least-populated of the nine counties that comprise the Trans-Pecos, Terrell County, which borders both the Pecos River and the Rio Grande, is the least-populated county in the Trans-Pecos region. The Trans-Pecos is a region of extremes, and at the opposite extreme from sparsely populated Terrell County is El Paso County, of its nine counties, Presidio is the most consistently Democratic, being like South Texas the longest-established Democratic stronghold in the nation. El Paso has also been solidly Democratic since Ronald Reagan won the county in 1984, Hudspeth, Pecos and Terrell Counties, last won for the Democrats by Bill Clinton in 1996, have become comparably Republican to Jeff Davis in the past couple of elections. The city of El Paso and its environs form Texass 16th congressional district, the remainder of the region is located entirely within Texass 23rd congressional district, currently represented by Congressman Will Hurd. In the Texas House of Representatives, El Paso County is divided between House Districts 75-79, while the remainder of the region is included in House District 74, interstates 10 and 20 are the largest freeways in the Trans-Pecos region. Public domain photos of West Texas and Llano Estacado
4.
Texas Hill Country
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The Texas Hill Country is a 25-county region of Central Texas and South Texas featuring karst topography and tall rugged hills consisting of thin layers of soil atop limestone or granite. It also includes the Llano Uplift and the second largest granite dome in the United States, the Hill Country reaches into portions of the two major metropolitan areas, especially in San Antonios northern suburbs and the western half of Travis County, ending southwest of Downtown Austin. The region is the portion of the Edwards Plateau and is bound by the Balcones Fault on the east. The terrain is punctuated by a number of limestone or granite rocks and boulders and a thin layer of topsoil. The Texas Hill Country is also home to several types of vegetation, such as various yucca, prickly pear cactus, cedar scrub. Several cities were settled at the base of the Balcones Escarpment, including Austin, San Marcos, the regions economy is one of the fastest growing in the US. The deeper caverns of the area form several aquifers which serve as a source of drinking water for the residents of the area, wonder Cave in San Marcos was formed by an earthquake along the Balcones Fault. The Guadalupe, San Antonio, Frio, Medina, and Nueces rivers originate in the Hill Country and this region is a dividing line for certain species occurrence. For example, the California Fan Palm is the species of palm tree that is native to the continental United States west of the Hill Countrys Balcones Fault. The region has hot summers, particularly in July and August, winter temperatures are sometimes as much as ten degrees cooler than in other parts of Texas to the east. For example, the accordion was popularized in Tejano music in the 19th century due to exposure to German settlers. It later re-aired when this series was hosted by Dennis Farina, the region has emerged as the center of the Texas wine industry. Three American Viticultural Areas are located in the areas, Texas Hill Country AVA, Fredericksburg in the Texas Hill Country AVA, the Hill Country is also known for its tourism. In 2008, The New York Times listed the Hill Country in an article about North American vacation destinations, Hill Country has also made Texas second to Florida as the most popular retirement destination in the United States. The region has attracted Baby Boomers as they near retirement age, frederick Day, a demographer with Texas State University, said that the Hill Country life-style reminds one of the small towns of the recent past. Cost of living is pretty low, to people who have spent their work life in Houston or Dallas, the Hill Country is very attractive
5.
Piney Woods
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These coniferous forests are dominated by several species of pine as well as hardwoods including hickory and oak. The World Wide Fund for Nature considers the Piney Woods to be one of the critically endangered ecoregions of the United States, the United States Environmental Protection Agency defines most of this ecoregion as the South Central Plains. The Piney Woods cover a 54, 400-square-mile area of eastern Texas, northwestern Louisiana, southwestern Arkansas and it receives 40-52 inches of precipitation annually. The region has heavy to moderate rainfall, with some receiving over 60 in of rain per year. Longleaf, shortleaf and loblolly pines, along with bluejack and post oaks, a well-developed understory grows beneath the sparse canopy, and includes yaupon holly and flowering dogwood. Pine savannas consist of scattered longleaf and loblolly pines alongside black tupelos, sweetgums, other common trees in this ecoregion include eastern redbud, southern sugar maple, and American elm. American wisteria, a vine, may cover groves of trees Two varieties of wetlands are common in the Piney Woods, bayous are generally found near rivers, in bayous bald cypress, Spanish moss, and water lilies are common plants. Sloughs are shallow pools of standing water that most trees are not capable of growing in, other species, such as the purple bladderwort, a small carnivorous plant, have found niches in sloughs. Hardy species of prickly pear cactus and yucca can be both in the forests and wetlands. The indigenous Texas trailing phlox, a species, grows in the sandy soils of longleaf pine forests. Birds include sandhill cranes, black and turkey vultures, northern mockingbirds, American alligators are not as common as they once were, but their population has rebounded since the 1960s. Louisiana black bears are rare today, but still live in remote thickets, recently, there has been significant talk of reintroducing the black bear into many parts of East Texas. The most common fish is catfish, which are a native species, crayfish are common along river and creek banks. The Piney Woods Region of the four state area is an area for Bigfoot sightings. One such noted legend is the story of the Fouke Monster of Southern Arkansas, the area according to references lists this area to be the third highest in North America for these such sightings. Melanistic cougars, another probable cryptid, have been noted by residents, the majority of the commercial timber growing and wood processing in the state of Texas takes place in the Piney Woods region, which contains about 50,000 square kilometres of commercial forestland. The preserve contains ten distinct ecosystems according to the National Park Service, big Thicket National Preserve is one of two UNESCO Biosphere Reserves in Texas. The preserve has also listed as a Globally Important Bird Area by the American Bird Conservancy
6.
South Texas
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South Texas is a region of the U. S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of -- and sometimes including -- San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico, the population of this region is about 4.67 million according to the 2013 census estimates. The southern portion of region is often referred to as the Rio Grande Valley. The eastern portion along the Gulf of Mexico is also referred to as the Coastal Bend, many South Texas residents Exclude San Antonio, as San Antonio is southern Central Texas. The Rio Grande serves as the western and southern boundaries and separates Texas from Mexico, the eastern portion of South Texas is bordered by the Gulf of Mexico. This region of Texas consist of 41 counties, South Texas terrain is flat, lying on the coastal plain. South Texas is so vast, there are even subregions, the very southern tip of South Texas, called the Rio Grande Valley, has fertile soils and is known for its citrus production. The eastern portion of South Texas is often referred to as the Coastal Bend, here, coastal marshes, estuaries. The western and central parts are known as the South Texas Plains or the brush country, mesquite trees and crop fields dominate the land. The fastest growing county in South Texas is Guadalupe County, growing by 5. 64% from 2010 to 2012, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas includes the Houston division. However, Houston is most accurately classified as being within Southeast Texas, the area along the Mexican border is generally semi-arid, while the area from the coast inland to just west of San Antonio has a humid subtropical climate. South Texas weather is affected by the Sierra Madre Oriental mountains to the west, the Gulf of Mexico to the east, moisture from the Pacific is cut off by the Mexican Sierra Madre Occidental and Oriental mountain ranges. Temperatures reach freezing only a few times in the winter and snowfall is rare, summers in this zone are hot and humid, with daily averages above 90 °F. Night-time temperatures are around 85 °F in summer. The region of South Texas includes the ranch country and the wetter Rio Grande Valley. Considered to be the southernmost tip of the American Great Plains region, the coastal areas are warm most of the year due to currents of the Gulf of Mexico, but can get cold in winter if a strong front comes in, occasionally causing snow at sea level. Rain in the region is more abundant than in the inland region. Inland, where it is drier, ranches dominate the landscape, characterized by thick, spiny brush, the winters in the inland region are cooler and drier, as Arctic air can make it into the region, but snow is rare due to the lack of humidity. Summers are for the most part hot and dry, but at times can be humid if winds come off the warmer Gulf of Mexico, tornadoes can occur in this region, but less frequently than in other parts of the state
7.
Interstate 35
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Interstate 35 is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the central United States. I-35 stretches from Laredo, Texas, on the American–Mexican border to Duluth, Minnesota, at Minnesota Highway 61 and 26th Avenue East. In two stretches, both through twin cities, the splits into Interstate 35E—at Dallas and at Saint Paul, Minnesota—and Interstate 35W—at Fort Worth, Texas. At 1,568 mi, Interstate 35 is the ninth-longest Interstate Highway following Interstate 94, even though the route is generally considered to be a border to border highway, this highway does not directly connect to either international border. I-35s southern terminus is a signal in Laredo, Texas. Route 53 in Duluth, but that route is typically accessed from the south by Minnesota Highway 33 at Cloquet. Interstate 35 northbound begins at a intersection with Business Spur I-35 in Laredo, Texas, just north of the Rio Grande. Through Webb, La Salle, and Frio Counties, it has a mostly north-northeastern course and it then cuts across the corners of Medina and Atascosa Counties before entering Bexar County and San Antonio. Interstate 35 is named the Pan Am Expressway in San Antonio, there, it has brief concurrencies with both Interstate 10 and Interstate 410, and it serves as the northern terminus of Interstate 37. I-35 heads northward out of the city towards the capital, Austin. In Austin, Interstate 35 is the Interregional Highway, throughout Austin, elevated express lanes were constructed on either side of the original freeway. Prior to this expansion, this included an at-grade railroad crossing. From Austin, I-35 goes through Round Rock, Temple, in Waco, I-35 is the Jack Kultgen Freeway. The campuses of the University of Texas at Austin and Baylor University are located adjacent to I-35, I-35 then heads to Hillsboro, where it splits up into I-35W and I-35E and runs through the Dallas/Fort Worth area. The official mile markers follow I-35E through Dallas—I-35W, which is 85 miles in length, carries its own mileage from Hillsboro to Denton, in Dallas, I-35 is the R. L. Thornton Freeway south of I-30, which picks up the name heading east. North of I-30, it is the Stemmons Freeway, after passing through Dallas and Fort Worth, I-35s two forks merge in Denton near the University of North Texas campus. The unified interstate then continues north to Gainesville before crossing the Red River into Oklahoma, in Oklahoma, I-35 runs from the Red River at the Texas border to the Kansas state line near Braman. It passes through or adjacent to many of the major cities
8.
Tropical cyclone
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Depending on its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is referred to by names such as hurricane, typhoon /taɪˈfuːn/, tropical storm, cyclonic storm, tropical depression, and simply cyclone. A hurricane is a storm that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Pacific Ocean, a typhoon occurs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, Tropical cyclones typically form over large bodies of relatively warm water. They derive their energy through the evaporation of water from the ocean surface and this energy source differs from that of mid-latitude cyclonic storms, such as noreasters and European windstorms, which are fueled primarily by horizontal temperature contrasts. The strong rotating winds of a tropical cyclone are a result of the conservation of momentum imparted by the Earths rotation as air flows inwards toward the axis of rotation. As a result, they form within 5° of the equator. Tropical cyclones are typically between 100 and 2,000 km in diameter, Tropical refers to the geographical origin of these systems, which form almost exclusively over tropical seas. Cyclone refers to their nature, with wind blowing counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. The opposite direction of circulation is due to the Coriolis effect, in addition to strong winds and rain, tropical cyclones are capable of generating high waves, damaging storm surge, and tornadoes. They typically weaken rapidly over land where they are cut off from their energy source. For this reason, coastal regions are vulnerable to damage from a tropical cyclone as compared to inland regions. Heavy rains, however, can cause significant flooding inland, though their effects on human populations are often devastating, tropical cyclones can relieve drought conditions. They also carry heat away from the tropics and transport it toward temperate latitudes. Tropical cyclones are areas of low pressure in the troposphere. On Earth, the pressures recorded at the centers of tropical cyclones are among the lowest ever observed at sea level, the environment near the center of tropical cyclones is warmer than the surroundings at all altitudes, thus they are characterized as warm core systems. The near-surface wind field of a cyclone is characterized by air rotating rapidly around a center of circulation while also flowing radially inwards. At the outer edge of the storm, air may be nearly calm, however, due to the Earths rotation, as air flows radially inward, it begins to rotate cyclonically in order to conserve angular momentum. At an inner radius, air begins to ascend to the top of the troposphere and this radius is typically coincident with the inner radius of the eyewall, and has the strongest near-surface winds of the storm, consequently, it is known as the radius of maximum winds. Once aloft, air flows away from the center, producing a shield of cirrus clouds
9.
Gulf of Mexico
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The Gulf of Mexico is an ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. The U. S. states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas border the Gulf on the north, Atlantic and Pacific coasts, or sometimes the south coast, in juxtaposition to the Great Lakes region being the north coast. One of the seven main areas is the Gulf of Mexico basin. The Gulf of Mexico formed approximately 300 million years ago as a result of plate tectonics, the Gulfs basin is roughly oval and is approximately 810 nautical miles wide and floored by sedimentary rocks and recent sediments. It is connected to part of the Atlantic Ocean through the Florida Straits between the U. S. and Cuba, and with the Caribbean Sea via the Yucatan Channel between Mexico and Cuba, with the narrow connection to the Atlantic, the Gulf experiences very small tidal ranges. The size of the Gulf basin is approximately 1.6 million km2, almost half of the basin is shallow continental shelf waters. The basin contains a volume of roughly 2,500 quadrillion liters, the consensus among geologists who have studied the geology of the Gulf of Mexico, is that prior to the Late Triassic, the Gulf of Mexico did not exist. It was created by the collision of plates that formed Pangea. As interpreted by Roy Van Arsdale and Randel T. Cox, geologists and other Earth scientists agree in general that the present Gulf of Mexico basin originated in Late Triassic time as the result of rifting within Pangea. The rifting was associated with zones of weakness within Pangea, including sutures where the Laurentia, South American, first, there was a Late Triassic-Early Jurassic phase of rifting during which rift valleys formed and filled with continental red beds. Second, as rifting progressed through Early and Middle Jurassic time and it was at this time that tectonics first created a connection to the Pacific Ocean across central Mexico and later eastward to the Atlantic Ocean. This flooded the basin created by rifting and crustal thinning to create the Gulf of Mexico. While the Gulf of Mexico was a basin, the subsiding transitional crust was blanketed by the widespread deposition of Louann Salt. Initially, during the Late Jurassic, continued rifting widened the Gulf of Mexico and progressed to the point that sea-floor spreading, at this point, sufficient circulation with the Atlantic Ocean was established that the deposition of Louann Salt ceased. During the Late Jurassic through Early Cretaceous, the occupied by the Gulf of Mexico experienced a period of cooling. The subsidence was the result of a combination of stretching, cooling. Initially, the combination of stretching and cooling caused about 5–7 km of tectonic subsidence of the central thin transitional
10.
Pacific Ocean
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The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of the Earths oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south and is bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, the Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres. Both the center of the Water Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere are in the Pacific Ocean, the oceans current name was coined by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish circumnavigation of the world in 1521, as he encountered favourable winds on reaching the ocean. He called it Mar Pacífico, which in both Portuguese and Spanish means peaceful sea, important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times. Long-distance trade developed all along the coast from Mozambique to Japan, trade, and therefore knowledge, extended to the Indonesian islands but apparently not Australia. By at least 878 when there was a significant Islamic settlement in Canton much of trade was controlled by Arabs or Muslims. In 219 BC Xu Fu sailed out into the Pacific searching for the elixir of immortality, from 1404 to 1433 Zheng He led expeditions into the Indian Ocean. The east side of the ocean was discovered by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513 after his expedition crossed the Isthmus of Panama and he named it Mar del Sur because the ocean was to the south of the coast of the isthmus where he first observed the Pacific. Later, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailed the Pacific East to West on a Castilian expedition of world circumnavigation starting in 1519, Magellan called the ocean Pacífico because, after sailing through the stormy seas off Cape Horn, the expedition found calm waters. The ocean was often called the Sea of Magellan in his honor until the eighteenth century, sailing around and east of the Moluccas, between 1525 and 1527, Portuguese expeditions discovered the Caroline Islands, the Aru Islands, and Papua New Guinea. In 1542–43 the Portuguese also reached Japan, in 1564, five Spanish ships consisting of 379 explorers crossed the ocean from Mexico led by Miguel López de Legazpi and sailed to the Philippines and Mariana Islands. The Manila galleons operated for two and a half centuries linking Manila and Acapulco, in one of the longest trade routes in history, Spanish expeditions also discovered Tuvalu, the Marquesas, the Cook Islands, the Solomon Islands, and the Admiralty Islands in the South Pacific. In the 16th and 17th century Spain considered the Pacific Ocean a Mare clausum—a sea closed to other naval powers, as the only known entrance from the Atlantic the Strait of Magellan was at times patrolled by fleets sent to prevent entrance of non-Spanish ships. On the western end of the Pacific Ocean the Dutch threatened the Spanish Philippines, Spain also sent expeditions to the Pacific Northwest reaching Vancouver Island in southern Canada, and Alaska. The French explored and settled Polynesia, and the British made three voyages with James Cook to the South Pacific and Australia, Hawaii, and the North American Pacific Northwest, one of the earliest voyages of scientific exploration was organized by Spain in the Malaspina Expedition of 1789–1794. It sailed vast areas of the Pacific, from Cape Horn to Alaska, Guam and the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, and the South Pacific. Growing imperialism during the 19th century resulted in the occupation of much of Oceania by other European powers, and later, Japan, in Oceania, France got a leading position as imperial power after making Tahiti and New Caledonia protectorates in 1842 and 1853 respectively. After navy visits to Easter Island in 1875 and 1887, Chilean navy officer Policarpo Toro managed to negotiate an incorporation of the island into Chile with native Rapanui in 1888, by occupying Easter Island, Chile joined the imperial nations
11.
Weather front
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A weather front is a boundary separating two masses of air of different densities, and is the principal cause of meteorological phenomena outside the tropics. In surface weather analyses, fronts are depicted using various colored triangles and half-circles, the air masses separated by a front usually differ in temperature and humidity. Cold fronts may feature narrow bands of thunderstorms and severe weather, Warm fronts are usually preceded by stratiform precipitation and fog. The weather usually clears quickly after a fronts passage, some fronts produce no precipitation and little cloudiness, although there is invariably a wind shift. Cold fronts and occluded fronts generally move from west to east, because of the greater density of air in their wake, cold fronts and cold occlusions move faster than warm fronts and warm occlusions. Mountains and warm bodies of water can slow the movement of fronts and this is most common over the open ocean. The Bergeron classification is the most widely accepted form of air mass classification, air mass classification involves three letters. The first letter describes its moisture properties, with c used for air masses. The second letter describes the characteristic of its source region, T for tropical, P for polar, A for arctic or Antarctic, M for monsoon, E for equatorial. The third letter is used to designate the stability of the atmosphere, if the air mass is colder than the ground below it, it is labeled k. If the air mass is warmer than the ground below it, it is labeled w. Fronts separate air masses of different types or origins, Surface weather analyses have special symbols which show frontal systems, cloud cover, precipitation, or other important information. For example, an H may represent high pressure, implying fair weather, an L on the other hand may represent low pressure, which frequently accompanies precipitation. Low pressure also creates surface winds deriving from high pressure zones, various symbols are used not just for frontal zones and other surface boundaries on weather maps, but also to depict the present weather at various locations on the weather map. In addition, areas of precipitation help determine the frontal type, there are two different meanings used within meteorology to describe weather around a frontal zone. The term anafront describes boundaries which show instability, meaning air rises rapidly along, a katafront is weaker, bringing smaller changes in temperature and moisture, as well as limited rainfall. Cold fronts often bring heavy thunderstorms, rain and hail, Cold front can produce sharper changes in weather and move up to twice as quickly as warm fronts, since cold air is denser than warm air and rapidly replaces the warm air preceding the boundary. Cold fronts come in association with a low-pressure area, the concept of colder, dense air wedging under the less dense warmer air is often used to depict how air is lifted along a frontal boundary. The cold air wedging underneath warmer air creates the strongest winds just above the ground surface and this lift would then form a narrow line of showers and thunderstorms if enough moisture were present
12.
Abilene, Texas
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Abilene is a city in Taylor and Jones counties in West Texas, United States. The population was 117,063 according to the 2010 census and it is the principal city of the Abilene Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a 2011 estimated population of 166,416. It is the county seat of Taylor County, Dyess Air Force Base is located on the west side of the city. Abilene is located off Interstate 20, between exits 279 on its edge and 292 on the east. Abilene is 150 miles west of Fort Worth, Texas, the city is looped by I-20 to the north, US 83/84 on the west, and Loop 322 to the east. A railroad divides the city down the center north and south. The historic downtown area is on the side of the railroad. Many developments have begun in these three areas within the last few years, established by cattlemen as a stock shipping point on the Texas and Pacific Railway in 1881, the city was named after Abilene, Kansas, the original endpoint for the Chisholm Trail. The T&P had bypassed the town of Buffalo Gap, the county seat at the time, eventually, a landowner north of Buffalo Gap, Clabe Merchant, known as the father of Abilene, chose the name for the new town. According to a Dallas newspaper, about 800 people had begun camping at the townsite. The town was out by Colonel J. Stoddard Johnson. By the end of the first day,139 lots were sold for a total of $23,810, and another 178 lots were sold the next day for $27,550. Abilene was incorporated soon after being founded in 1881, and Abilenians began to set their sights on bringing the county seat to Abilene, in 1888, the Progressive Committee was formed to attract businesses to the area, which later became the Board of Trade in 1890. By 1900,3,411 people lived in Abilene, and in that decade, however, this committee failed when the population only hit 9,204 in 1910. Replacing it was the Young Mens Booster Club, which became the Abilene Chamber of Commerce in 1914, the cornerstone was laid for the first of three future universities in Abilene, called Simmons College, in 1891, which later became Hardin-Simmons University. Childers Classical Institute followed in 1906, currently Abilene Christian University, in 1923, McMurry College was founded and later became McMurry University. Much more recently, Abilene succeeded in bringing Cisco Junior College and Texas State Technical College branches to Abilene, with the Cisco Junior College headquarters being located in Abilene. In 1940, Abilene raised the money to land for a U. S. Army base, southwest of town, named Camp Barkeley
13.
Amarillo, Texas
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Amarillo is the 14th-most populous city in the state of Texas, in the United States. It is also the largest city in the Texas Panhandle, a portion of the city extends into Randall County. The population was 190,695 at the 2010 census, the Amarillo metropolitan area has an estimated population of 236,113 in four counties. Amarillo, originally named Oneida, is situated in the Llano Estacado region, the availability of the railroad and freight service provided by the Fort Worth and Denver City Railroad contributed to the citys growth as a cattle-marketing center in the late 19th century. The city was once the self-proclaimed Helium Capital of the World for having one of the countrys most productive helium fields, the city is also known as The Yellow Rose of Texas, and most recently Rotor City, USA for its V-22 Osprey hybrid aircraft assembly plant. Amarillo operates one of the largest meat-packing areas in the United States, Pantex, the only nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly facility in the country, is also a major employer. The location of this facility also gave rise to the nickname Bomb City, the attractions Cadillac Ranch and Big Texan Steak Ranch are located adjacent to Interstate 40. U. S. Highway 66 also passed through the city, large ranches exist in the Amarillo area, among others, the defunct XIT Ranch and the still functioning JA Ranch founded in 1877 by Charles Goodnight and John George Adair. Goodnight continued the partnership for a time after Adairs death with Adairs widow, Cornelia Wadsworth Ritchie Adair, who was then the sole owner from 1887 until her death in 1921. Berry established a site for a town after he chose a section along the way of the Fort Worth and Denver City Railroad. Berry and Colorado City, Texas, merchants wanted to make their new site the regions main trading center. On August 30,1887, Berrys town site won the county seat election and was established in Potter County, availability of the railroad and freight service after the county seat election made the town a fast-growing cattle-marketing center. Early residents originally pronounced the name more similar to the Spanish pronunciation /ˌɑːməˈriːjoʊ/ ah-mə-REE-yoh. On June 19,1888, Henry B, sanborn also offered to trade lots in the new location to businesses in the original citys site and help with the expense of moving to new buildings. His incentives gradually won over people, who moved their businesses to Polk Street in the new commercial district, heavy rains almost flooded Berrys part of the town in 1889, prompting more people to move to Sanborns location. This eventually led to another county seat election making Sanborns town the new county seat in 1893, by the late 1890s, Amarillo had emerged as one of the worlds busiest cattle-shipping points, and its population grew significantly. The city became an elevator, milling, and feed-manufacturing center after an increase in production of wheat. Discovery of natural gas in 1918 and oil three years later brought oil and gas companies to the Amarillo area, the United States government bought the Cliffside Gas Field with high helium content in 1927 and the Federal Bureau of Mines began operating the Amarillo Helium plant two years later
14.
Lubbock, Texas
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Lubbock is a city in and the county seat of Lubbock County, Texas, United States. The city is located in the part of the state. According to a 2015 Census estimate, Lubbock had a population of 249,042, making it the 83rd most populous city in the United States of America and the 11th most populous city in the state of Texas. The city is the center of the Lubbock metropolitan area. The area is the largest contiguous cotton-growing region in the world and is dependent on water drawn from the Ogallala Aquifer for irrigation. Lubbock was selected as the 12th best place to start a business by CNNMoney. com. CNN mentioned the traditional business atmosphere, low rent for commercial space, central location. Lubbock is home to Texas Tech University, the sixth-largest college by enrollment in the state, Lubbock High School has been recognized for three consecutive years by Newsweek as one of the top high schools in the United States based in part on its international baccalaureate program. Lubbock County was founded in 1876 and it was named after Thomas Saltus Lubbock, former Texas Ranger and brother of Francis Lubbock, governor of Texas during the Civil War. As early as 1884, a federal post office existed in Yellow House Canyon, a small town, known as Old Lubbock, Lubbock, or North Town, was established about three miles to the east. In 1890, the original Lubbock merged with Monterey, another small town south of the canyon, the new town adopted the Lubbock name. The merger included moving the original Lubbocks Nicolett Hotel across the canyon on rollers to the new townsite, Lubbock became the county seat in 1891, and was incorporated on March 16,1909. In the same year, the first railroad train arrived, Texas Technological College was founded in Lubbock in 1923. A separate university, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, opened as Texas Tech University School of Medicine in 1969, both universities are now overseen by the Texas Tech University System, after it was established in 1996 and based in Lubbock. Lubbock Christian University, founded in 1957, and Sunset International Bible Institute, South Plains College and Wayland Baptist University operate branch campuses in Lubbock. At one time, Lubbock was home to Reese Air Force Base located 6 miles west of the city, the bases primary mission throughout its existence was pilot training. The base was closed 30 September 1997 after being selected for closure by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission in 1995 and is now a research, the city is home to the Lubbock Lake Landmark, part of the Museum of Texas Tech University. The landmark is an archaeological and natural preserve at the northern edge of the city
15.
Midland, Texas
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Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Texas, United States, on the Southern Plains of the states western area. A small portion of the city extends into Martin County, at the 2010 census, the population of Midland was 111,147, and a 2015 estimate gave a total of 132,950, making it the twenty-fourth most populous city in the state of Texas. Due to the oil boom in Midland, certain officials have given population estimates above 155,000, the metropolitan area is also a component of the larger Midland−Odessa, Texas Combined Statistical Area, which had an estimated population of 295,987 on July 1,2012. People in Midland are called Midlanders, Midland was founded as the midway point between Fort Worth and El Paso on the Texas and Pacific Railroad in 1881. It is the hometown of former First Lady Laura Bush, and the home of former Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush. Midland was established in June 1881 as Midway Station, on the Texas, Midland became the county seat of Midland County in March 1885, when that county was first organized and separated from Tom Green County. By 1890, it had one of the most important cattle shipping centers in the state. The city was incorporated in 1906, and by 1910 the city established its first fire department, soon, Midland was transformed into the administrative center of the West Texas oil fields. During the Second World War, Midland was the largest bombardier training base in the country, a second boom period began after the war, with the discovery and development of the Spraberry Trend, still ranked as the third-largest oil field in the United States by total reserves. Yet another boom period took place during the 1970s, with the oil prices associated with the oil. Today, the Permian Basin produces one fifth of the total petroleum. Midlands economy still relies heavily on petroleum, however, the city has diversified to become a regional telecommunications. By August 2006, a period of crude oil production had caused a significant workforce deficit. According to the Midland Chamber of Commerce, at that time there were almost 2,000 more jobs available in the Permian Basin than there were workers to fill them, John Howard Griffin wrote a history of Midland in 1959, Land of the High Sky. In 1967, the U. S. Supreme Court heard the case of Avery v. Midland County, Midland mayor Hank Avery had sued Midland County, challenging the electoral-districting scheme in effect for elections to the County Commissioners Court. The county districts geographically quartered the county, but the city of Midland, in the northwestern quarter, the majority of the U. S. Supreme Court held that the districting inequality violated the Fourteenth Amendments Equal Protection clause. The dissenting minority held that this example of the Warren Courts policy of incorporation at the local-government level exceeded the Courts constitutional authority, Midland is located at 32°0′N 102°6′W, in the Permian Basin in the plains of West Texas. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 71.5 square miles
16.
San Angelo, Texas
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San Angelo /sæn ˈændʒəloʊ/ is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States. According to a 2014 Census estimate, San Angelo has a population of 100,450. The city is the city and center of the San Angelo metropolitan area. San Angelo is home to Angelo State University, historic Fort Concho, common nicknames of the city include Angelo, the River City, the Concho City, the Pearl of the Conchos, and the Oasis of West Texas. Prior to the arrival of Europeans, San Angelo was the center of the Jumano people, as of 1600, the area had been inhabited for over a thousand years by succeeding cultures of indigenous peoples. In 1632, a mission of Franciscans under Spanish auspices was founded in the area to serve the Indians. The mission was led by the friars Juan de Salas and Juan de Ortega, the area was visited by the Castillo-Martin expedition of 1650 and the Diego de Guadalajara expedition of 1654. The current city of San Angelo was founded in 1867, when the United States built Fort Concho, the fort was home to cavalry, infantry, and the famous Black Cavalry, also known as Buffalo Soldiers by Indigenous Americans. The settler Bartholomew J. DeWitt founded the village of Santa Angela outside the fort at the junction of the North and South Concho Rivers and he named the village after his wife, Carolina Angela. The name was changed to San Angela. The name would change again to San Angelo in 1883 on the insistence of the United States Postal Service, the town became a trade center for farmers and settlers in the area, as well as a fairly lawless cow town filled with brothels, saloons, and gambling houses. After being designated as the county seat, the town grew quickly in the 1880s and it became a central transportation hub for the region. The Santa Fe Railroad arrived in 1888 and the Kansas City, Mexico, after a tuberculosis outbreak hit the United States in the early 1900s, many patients moved to San Angelo. At the time, doctors could only recommend rest in dry, TB sufferers went to San Angelo for treatment. In 1928, the city founded San Angelo College, one of the regions first institutes of higher education, the city had been passed over by the Texas State Legislature to be the home of what would become Texas Tech University. San Angelo College, one of the first municipal colleges, has grown to become Angelo State University, the military returned to San Angelo during World War II with the founding of Goodfellow Air Force Base, which was assigned to train pilots at the time. San Angelo grew exponentially during the oil boom of the 1900s, when vast amounts of oil were found in the area, the San Angelo Independent School District became one of the first in Texas to integrate, doing so voluntarily in 1955. San Angelo is located at 31°26′34″N 100°27′1″W
17.
Wichita Falls, Texas
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Wichita Falls is a city in and the county seat of Wichita County, Texas, United States. Wichita Falls is the city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay. According to the 2010 census, the city had a population of 104,553, of interest is the Newby-McMahon Building, constructed downtown in 1919 and featured in Robert Ripleys Ripleys Believe It or Not. The Choctaw Native Americans settled the area in the early 19th century from their native Mississippi area once Americans negotiated to relocate them after the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, American settlers arrived in the 1860s to form cattle ranches. The city was officially titled Wichita Falls on September 27,1872, on that day, a sale of town lots was held at what is now the corner of Seventh and Ohio Streets – the birthplace of the city. The Fort Worth & Denver City Railway arrived in September 1882, the city grew westwards from the original FW&DC train depot which was located at the northwest corner of Seventh Street and the FW&DC. This area is now referred to as the Depot Square Historic District, the early history of Wichita Falls well into the 20th century also rests on the work of two entrepreneurs, Joseph A. Kemp and his brother-in-law, Frank Kell. Kemp and Kell were pioneers in food processing and retailing, flour milling, railroads, cattle, banking, a flood in 1886 destroyed the original falls on the Wichita River for which the city was named. After nearly 100 years of wanting to visit the nonexistent falls. The recreated falls are 54 ft high and recirculate at 3,500 gallons per minute and they are visible to south-bound traffic on Interstate 44. The city is seeking funding to rebuild and restore the downtown area. Both firms continued to use a portion of their former refineries as gasoline/oil terminal facilities for many years, a devastating tornado hit the north and northwest portions of Wichita Falls along with Sheppard Air Force Base during the afternoon of April 3,1964. As the first violent tornado on record to hit the Wichita Falls area, it left seven dead, additionally, the tornado caused roughly $15 million in property damage with about 225 homes destroyed and another 250 damaged. It was rated as an F5, the highest rating on the Fujita scale, an F4 tornado struck the heavily populated southern sections of Wichita Falls in the late afternoon on Tuesday, April 10,1979. It was part of an outbreak that produced 30 tornadoes around the region and it left 20,000 people homeless and caused $400 million in damage, a U. S. record not topped by an individual tornado until the F5 Moore-Oklahoma City tornado of May 3,1999. Wichita Falls is about 15 miles south of the border with Oklahoma,115 mi northwest of Fort Worth, and 140 mi southwest of Oklahoma City. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 70.71 square miles. Wichita Falls experiences a subtropical climate, with some of the highest summer daily maximum temperatures in the entire U. S. outside of the Desert Southwest
18.
Spring (season)
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Spring is one of the four conventional temperate seasons, following winter and preceding summer. There are various definitions of spring, but local usage of the term varies according to local climate, cultures. When it is spring in the Northern Hemisphere, it will be autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, at the spring equinox, days are approximately 12 hours long with day length increasing as the season progresses. Spring and springtime refer to the season, and also to ideas of rebirth, rejuvenation, renewal, resurrection, subtropical and tropical areas have climates better described in terms of other seasons, e. g. dry or wet, monsoonal or cyclonic. Often, cultures have locally defined names for seasons which have little equivalence to the terms originating in Europe, Spring is the time when many plants begin to grow and flower. Meteorologists generally define four seasons in many areas, spring, summer, autumn. These are demarcated by the values of their average temperatures on a monthly basis, the three warmest months are by definition summer, the three coldest months are winter and the intervening gaps are spring and autumn. Spring, when defined in this manner, can start on different dates in different regions, in most Northern Hemisphere, temperate locations, spring months are March, April and May, although differences exist from country to country. Most Southern Hemisphere, temperate locations have opposing seasons with spring in September, October and November, in Australia and New Zealand, spring conventionally begins on 1 September and ends 30 November. In some cultures in the Northern Hemisphere, the astronomical Vernal equinox is taken to mark the first day of spring, in Persian culture the first day of spring is the first day of the first month which begins on 20 or 21 March. In other traditions, the equinox is taken as mid-spring, similarly, according to the Celtic tradition, which is based solely on daylight and the strength of the noon sun, spring begins in early February and continues until early May. In Ireland, spring traditionally starts on February 1, St Brigids Day, the beginning of spring is not always determined by fixed calendar dates. These indicators, along with the beginning of spring, vary according to the local climate, most ecologists divide the year into six seasons that have no fixed dates. In addition to spring, ecological reckoning identifies an earlier separate prevernal season between the hibernal and vernal seasons and this is a time when only the hardiest flowers like the crocus are in bloom, sometimes while there is still some snowcover on the ground. During early spring, the axis of the Earth is increasing its tilt relative to the Sun, the hemisphere begins to warm significantly, causing new plant growth to spring forth, giving the season its name. Any snow begins to melt, swelling streams with runoff and any frosts become less severe, in climates that have no snow, and rare frosts, air and ground temperatures increase more rapidly. Many flowering plants bloom at this time of year, in a succession, sometimes beginning when snow is still on the ground. In normally snowless areas, spring may begin as early as February, heralded by the blooming of deciduous magnolias, cherries, and quince, or August in the same way
19.
Tornado Alley
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Tornado Alley is a colloquial term for the area of the United States where tornadoes are most frequent. It is largely a media-driven term although tornado climatologists distinguish peaks in activity in certain areas, although the official boundaries of Tornado Alley are not clearly defined, its core extends from northern Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, into Nebraska. Some research suggests that tornadoes are becoming frequent in the northern parts of Tornado Alley where it reaches the Canadian prairies. The Pampas has a consistency of tornadoes, whereas Bangladesh and adjacent East India have the highest frequency of violent tornadoes outside the central. Over the years, the location of Tornado Alley have not been clearly defined, no definition of tornado alley has ever been officially designated by the National Weather Service. Thus, differences in location are the result of the different criteria used, according to the National Severe Storms Laboratory FAQ, Tornado Alley is a term used by the media as a reference to areas that have higher numbers of tornadoes. A study of 1921–1995 tornadoes concluded almost one-fourth of all significant tornadoes occur in this area, no state is entirely free of tornadoes, however, they occur more frequently in the Central United States, between the Rocky Mountains and Appalachian Mountains. Texas reports the most tornadoes of any due to its large size. Kansas and Oklahoma rank first and second respectively in the number of tornadoes per area, florida also reports a high number and density of tornado occurrences, though tornadoes there rarely reach the strength of those that sometimes occur in the southern plains. Regionally, the frequency of tornadoes in the United States is closely tied with the progression of the season when warm. Another criterion for the location of Tornado Alley can be where the strongest tornadoes occur more frequently, Tornado Alley can also be defined as an area reaching from central Texas to the Canadian prairies and from eastern Colorado to western Pennsylvania. It has also asserted that there are numerous Tornado Alleys. In addition to the Texas/Oklahoma/Kansas core, such include the Upper Midwest, the lower Ohio Valley, the Tennessee Valley. Some studies suggest that there are also smaller tornado alleys located across the United States, the tornado alleys in the southeastern U. S. In Tornado Alley, warm, humid air from the equator meets cool, dry air from Canada and this creates an ideal environment for tornadoes to form within developed thunderstorms and super cells. One particular tornado-afflicted town, Moore, Oklahoma, managed to increase its building requirements in 2014, other common precautionary measures include the construction of storm cellars, and the installation of tornado sirens. Tornado awareness, preparedness, and media coverage are also high. The southeastern United States is particularly prone to violent, long track tornadoes, much of the housing in this region is less robust compared to other areas in the United States, and many people live in mobile homes
20.
Dust Bowl
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The drought came in three waves,1934,1936, and 1939–1940, but some regions of the high plains experienced drought conditions for as many as eight years. During the drought of the 1930s, the unanchored soil turned to dust, which the prevailing winds blew away in huge clouds that sometimes blackened the sky. These choking billows of dust – named black blizzards or black rollers – traveled cross country, reaching as far as the East Coast and striking such cities as New York City and Washington, on the Plains, they often reduced visibility to 1 metre or less. While the term the Dust Bowl was originally a reference to the area affected by the dust, today it is usually used to refer to the event. The drought and erosion of the Dust Bowl affected 100,000,000 acres that centered on the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma and touched adjacent sections of New Mexico, Colorado, the Dust Bowl forced tens of thousands of families to abandon their farms. The Dust Bowl area lies principally west of the 100th meridian on the High Plains, elevation ranges from 2,500 feet in the east to 6,000 feet at the base of the Rocky Mountains. The area is semiarid, receiving less than 20 inches of rain annually, the region is also prone to extended drought, alternating with unusual wetness of equivalent duration. During wet years, the soil provides bountiful agricultural output. The region is subject to high winds. During early European and American exploration of the Great Plains, this region was thought unsuitable for European-style agriculture, the lack of surface water and timber made the region less attractive than other areas for pioneer settlement and agriculture. The federal government encouraged settlement and development of the Plains for agriculture via the Homestead Act of 1862, an unusually wet period in the Great Plains mistakenly led settlers and the federal government to believe that rain follows the plow and that the climate of the region had changed permanently. Waves of European settlers arrived in the plains at the beginning of the 20th century, a return of unusually wet weather seemingly confirmed a previously held opinion that the formerly semiarid area could support large-scale agriculture. At the same time, technological improvements such as mechanized plowing, for example, in the Llano Estacado of eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas, the area of farmland was doubled between 1900 and 1920, then tripled again between 1925 and 1930. The agricultural methods favored by farmers during this period created the conditions for large-scale erosion under certain environmental conditions, when severe drought struck the Great Plains region in the 1930s, it resulted in erosion and loss of topsoil because of farming practices at the time. The drought dried the topsoil and over time it became friable, without the indigenous grasses in place, the high winds that occur on the plains picked up the topsoil and created the massive dust storms that marked the Dust Bowl period. The persistent dry weather caused crops to fail, leaving the plowed fields exposed to wind erosion, the fine soil of the Great Plains was easily eroded and carried east by strong continental winds. On November 11,1933, a very strong dust storm stripped topsoil from desiccated South Dakota farmlands in just one of a series of severe dust storms that year. Beginning on May 9,1934, a strong, two-day dust storm removed massive amounts of Great Plains topsoil in one of the worst such storms of the Dust Bowl, the dust clouds blew all the way to Chicago, where they deposited 12 million pounds of dust
21.
Texas Panhandle
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The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U. S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost twenty-six counties in the state. The panhandle is an area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north. The Handbook of Texas defines the border of Swisher County as the southern boundary of the Texas Panhandle region. Its land area is 25,823.89 sq mi, the Texas Panhandle is slightly larger in size than the US State of West Virginia. There is an additional 62.75 sq mi of water area and its population as of the 2010 census was 427,927 residents, or 1.7 percent of the states total population. As of the 2010 census, the density for the region was 16.6 per square mile. The Panhandle is distinct from North Texas, which is farther southeast, West of the Caprock Escarpment and north and south of the Canadian River breaks, the surface of the Llano Estacado is rather flat. South of the city of Amarillo, the level terrain gives way to Palo Duro Canyon and this colorful canyon was carved by the Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River. North of Amarillo lies Lake Meredith, a reservoir created by Sanford Dam on the Canadian River, the lake, along with the Ogallala Aquifer, provides drinking water and irrigation for this moderately dry area of the high plains. Interstate Highway 40 passes through the panhandle, and also passes through Amarillo, the highway passes through Deaf Smith, Oldham, Potter, Carson, Gray, Donley, and Wheeler Counties. The Texas Panhandle has been identified in the early 21st century as one of the fastest-growing windpower-producing regions in the nation because of its strong, steady winds. Before the rise of Amarillo, the three towns of the Panhandle were Clarendon in Donley County, Mobeetie in Wheeler County. Clarendon moved itself after it was overlooked by the Fort Worth, Mobeetie was reduced even below its original small size with the closure of the United States Armys Fort Elliott in 1890. Tascosa was ruined by the location of the railroad too far north of the town, as of the census of 2000, approximately 402,862 people lived in the panhandle. Of these,68. 9% were non-Hispanic White,23. 8% were Hispanic, only 2. 7% were of some other ethnicity. 92. 3% of inhabitants claimed native birth, and 8. 9% were veterans of the United States armed forces,49. 9% of the population was male, and 50. 1% was female. 13. 2% of the population were 65 years of age or older and it was one of the first regions of the state to break away from its Democratic roots, though Democrats continued to do well at the local level well into the 1980s. However, Republicans now dominate every level of government, holding nearly every elected post above the county level, in the 2008 Presidential Election, John McCain received 78. 82% of the vote, as compared with Barack Obamas 20. 48% share of the vote
22.
Desertification
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Desertification is a type of land degradation in which relatively dry area of land becomes increasingly arid, typically losing its bodies of water as well as vegetation and wildlife. It is caused by a variety of factors, such as climate change. Desertification is a significant global ecological and environmental problem, considerable controversy exists over the proper definition of the term desertification for which Helmut Geist has identified more than 100 formal definitions. Another major contribution to the controversy comes from the sub-grouping of types of desertification, the worlds most noted deserts have been formed by natural processes interacting over long intervals of time. During most of times, deserts have grown and shrunk independent of human activities. Paleodeserts are large sand seas now inactive because they are stabilized by vegetation, some extending beyond the present margins of deserts, such as the Sahara. Drylands occupy approximately 40–41% of Earth’s land area and are home to more than 2 billion people. As of 1998, the then-current degree of expansion of the Sahara was not well known, due to a lack of recent. Causes of desertification in Sahel, The impact of global warming, in this area, the level of desertification is very high compared to other areas in the world. All areas situated in the part of Africa are characterized by a dry climate, hot temperatures. So, droughts are the rule in the Sahel region, development of the desertification process in Sahel, Some studies have shown that Africa has lost approximately 650000 km² of its productive agricultural land over the past 50 years. The propagation of desertification in this area is considerable, Some statistics have shown that since 1900, the Sahara has expanded by 250 km, covering an additional area of 6000 square kilometers. Impacts of desertification in Sahel, The survey, done by the institute for development, had demonstrated that this dryness is spreading fast in the Sahelian countries. Desertification in the Sahel can affect more than one billion of its inhabitants, 70% of the arid area has deteriorated and water resources have disappeared, leading to soil degradation. The loss of topsoil means that plants take root firmly. The United Nations Convention says that six million Sahelian citizens would have to give up the desertified zones of sub-Saharan Africa for North Africa. As the desertification takes place, the landscape may progress through different stages, on gradually sloped terrain, desertification can create increasingly larger empty spaces over a large strip of land, a phenomenon known as Brousse tigrée. A mathematical model of this phenomenon proposed by C, klausmeier attributes this patterning to dynamics in plant-water interaction
23.
Pinophyta
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The Pinophyta, also known as Coniferophyta or Coniferae, or commonly as conifers, are a division of vascular land plants containing a single class, Pinopsida. They are gymnosperms, cone-bearing seed plants, all extant conifers are perennial woody plants with secondary growth. The great majority are trees, though a few are shrubs, examples include cedars, Douglas firs, cypresses, firs, junipers, kauri, larches, pines, hemlocks, redwoods, spruces, and yews. As of 1998, the division Pinophyta was estimated to contain eight families,68 genera, although the total number of species is relatively small, conifers are ecologically important. They are the dominant plants over large areas of land, most notably the taiga of the Northern Hemisphere, boreal conifers have many wintertime adaptations. The narrow conical shape of northern conifers, and their downward-drooping limbs, many of them seasonally alter their biochemistry to make them more resistant to freezing. While tropical rainforests have more biodiversity and turnover, the conifer forests of the world represent the largest terrestrial carbon sink. Conifers are of economic value for softwood lumber and paper production. The earliest conifers in the record date to the late Carboniferous period, possibly arising from Cordaites. Pinophytes, Cycadophytes, and Ginkgophytes all developed at this time, an important adaptation of these gymnosperms was allowing plants to live without being so dependent on water. Other adaptations are pollen and the seed, which allows the embryo to be transported and developed elsewhere, Conifers appear to be one of the taxa that benefited from the Permian–Triassic extinction event, and were the dominant land plants of the Mesozoic. They were overtaken by the plants, which first appeared in the Cretaceous. They were the food of herbivorous dinosaurs, and their resins and poisons would have given protection against herbivores. Reproductive features of modern conifers had evolved by the end of the Mesozoic era, Conifer is a Latin word, a compound of conus and ferre, meaning the one that bears cone. A descriptive name in use for the conifers is Coniferae. Alternatively, descriptive botanical names may also be used at any rank above family and this means that if conifers are considered a division, they may be called Pinophyta or Coniferae. As a class they may be called Pinopsida or Coniferae, as an order they may be called Pinales or Coniferae or Coniferales. Conifers are the largest and economically most important component group of the gymnosperms, the division Pinophyta consists of just one class, Pinopsida, which includes both living and fossil taxa
24.
El Paso International Airport
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El Paso International Airport is a public airport four miles northeast of downtown El Paso, in El Paso County, Texas, US. It is the largest commercial airport in West Texas, handling 2,778,248 passengers in 2014, the airport serves the El Paso-Las Cruces CSA. The city of El Paso built the first El Paso Municipal Airport near the east side of the Franklin Mountains in 1928, the airport was closed by 1945 and in more recent times has been home to the Jobe Concrete Products Planeport cement factory. In 1934, Varney Speed Lines operated at the original El Paso Municipal Airport, the original El Paso Municipal Airport construction was inspired by a visit from Charles Lindbergh. What became the present-day El Paso International Airport was built as Standard Airport by Standard Airlines in 1929 for transcontinental air mail service, Standard Airlines became a division of American Airlines in the 1930s. In 1936, American Airlines swapped airports with the city of El Paso, during World War II, the airport was a United States Army Air Forces training base. Units which trained at El Paso Army Airfield were, 385th Bombardment Group December 21,1942 – February 1,1943 Served with the 8th Air Force in England, 491st Bombardment Group November 11,1943 – January 1,1944 Served with the 8th Air Force in England. 497th Bombardment Group November 20 – December 1,1943 Served with the 20th Air Force at Saipan, at the end of the war the airfield was deemed excess by the military and returned to the local government for civil use. The April 1952 C&GS diagram shows runways 4,8,12 and 17, El Paso was the last stop of the first hijacking of a jetliner, a Boeing 707 owned by Continental Airlines. Before deregulation in the USA, El Paso was a city for Continental but was soon demoted to a standard station in a hub-and-spoke system under Frank Lorenzo. The airline had a base that was closed in 1963. Airport diagram for January 1963 The passenger concourses were built in 1971 as part of an expansion that tripled the size of the airport and it was designed by Garland & Hilles Serving General Aviation at El Paso International Airport, Cutter Aviation established a Fixed-Base Operation in 1982. Cutter Aviation moved to a new facility on Shuttle Columbia Drive in 2006, atlantic Aviation also serves general aviation at ELP. It has an entrance and the gates branch out east to west on the two concourses. The Airport has East and West Concourses, Gates A1–A4 are located on the West Concourse and Gates B1–B11 is located on the East Concourse. The Airport has a total of 15 gates, there is also a lower and upper level. The gates are located on the level and the ticketing, baggage claim, rental car. The meeter/greeter area is located on the level just behind the escalators that lead to the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint leading to the gates
25.
Precipitation
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In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, graupel, Precipitation occurs when a portion of the atmosphere becomes saturated with water vapor, so that the water condenses and precipitates. Thus, fog and mist are not precipitation but suspensions, because the vapor does not condense sufficiently to precipitate. Two processes, possibly acting together, can lead to air becoming saturated, Precipitation forms as smaller droplets coalesce via collision with other rain drops or ice crystals within a cloud. Short, intense periods of rain in scattered locations are called showers, moisture that is lifted or otherwise forced to rise over a layer of sub-freezing air at the surface may be condensed into clouds and rain. This process is active when freezing rain is occurring. A stationary front is often present near the area of freezing rain, provided necessary and sufficient atmospheric moisture content, the moisture within the rising air will condense into clouds, namely stratus and cumulonimbus. Eventually, the droplets will grow large enough to form raindrops. Lake-effect snowfall can be locally heavy, thundersnow is possible within a cyclones comma head and within lake effect precipitation bands. In mountainous areas, heavy precipitation is possible where upslope flow is maximized within windward sides of the terrain at elevation, on the leeward side of mountains, desert climates can exist due to the dry air caused by compressional heating. The movement of the trough, or intertropical convergence zone. Precipitation is a component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 cubic kilometres of water falls as precipitation each year,398,000 cubic kilometres of it over the oceans and 107,000 cubic kilometres over land. Given the Earths surface area, that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres, Climate classification systems such as the Köppen climate classification system use average annual rainfall to help differentiate between differing climate regimes. Precipitation may occur on celestial bodies, e. g. when it gets cold, Mars has precipitation which most likely takes the form of frost. Precipitation is a component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 km3 of water falls as precipitation each year,398,000 km3 of it over the oceans, given the Earths surface area, that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres. Mechanisms of producing precipitation include convective, stratiform, and orographic rainfall, Precipitation can be divided into three categories, based on whether it falls as liquid water, liquid water that freezes on contact with the surface, or ice
