A study of the zonal wind quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) between 1972 and 1981 and at the 50 and 30 mb levels was performed using a total of over 5000 monthly mean observations from 79 stations between 20°S and 20°N. At each level and for each month a continuous representation of the zonally averaged zonal wind as a function of latitude, ū(θ), was constructed using a simple interpolation procedure. The evolution of ū through the QBO cycle was then examined. A noteworthy feature wen in each cycle was a strong concentration of westerly acceleration within a few degrees of the equator at the initial onset of the transition away from the extreme easterly phase. Arguments are presented which show that these westerly accelerations are much narrower than those that would be produced by the direct absorption of a vertically propagating Kelvin wave (at least if the wave satisfies the usual WKB scaling). It is suggested that the initial westerly mean wind acceleration in the QBO may be produced in part by the downward transport of mean flow momentum from higher levels. Such transport might result from mean flow diabatic effects in the manner discussed by Plumb and Bell. Within a month or two the strong equatorial westerly acceleration produces a highly inflected mean wind profile with regions on either side of the equator in which β – uyy, is large and negative.