Custer, South Dakota
November 22, 2022
Wyoming is rectangular in shape, it is bordered by MONTANA to the north, SOUTH DAKOTA and NEBRASKA to the east, COLORADO and UTAH to the south and IDAHO to the west.
With an area of 97,818 square mi, Wyoming ranks 10th nationally in size. With the smallest population of any state (493,782), Wyoming remains a remarkably undeveloped state; cattle outnumber people by almost three to one. Because the western one-third of the state is covered by the Rocky Mountains, the state's average elevation is 6,700 ft, making it the second-highest in the continental United States behind Colorado. The lowest place in elevation is 3,099 ft above sea level along the Belle Fourche River in the northeastern part of the state, while the highest point is Gannett Peak at 13,804 ft in the Wind River Range. There are four distinct geographic regions in the state: the Great Plains, the Southern Rocky Mountains, the Middle Rocky Mountains, and the Wyoming Basins. The Great Plains region is located mostly in the northeastern part of the state and consists of numerous low hills and isolated buttes. The most notable natural features of the region are the Thunder Basis Grasslands to the west of the Black Hills Region of South Dakota between Gillette, New Castle, and Sundance and the Devils Tower National Monument, a volcanic rock formation on the Belle Fourche River just north of Sundance in the far northeast corner of the state.
The Wyoming landscape becomes mountainous in the Southern Rocky Mountains south of the Great Plains where there are three main ranges: the Laramie Mountains, about 140 miles long; the Sierra Madre range, only about 30 mi long; and the Medicine Bow Mountains, stretching over 50 mi into the state from the Colorado border.
The Middle Rocky Mountains extend through the central, western, and northwestern parts of the state and contains the Wyoming Range, the Teton Range, the Absaroka Range, the Big Horn Mountains, and the Wind River Range. This phenomenal display of peaks, ridges, and deep valleys includes Gannett Peak in the Wind River Range, Wyoming's highest at 13,804 ft; Grand Teton in the Teton Range at 13,771 ft; and Cloud Peak at 13,167 ft in the Big Horns.
The dramatic rise of the Grand Tetons in northwestern Wyoming, as seen from Jackson Hole, is thought to have formed as two separate blocks of the Earth's crust shifted, one block pushing the peak upward, while another hollowed out Jackson Hole below. North of the Tetons is Yellowstone, the first national park in the nation. This area is known for its unique geysers, extensive variety of plants and animals, and majestic views.
The largest geographic area is the Wyoming Basins. Situated among the state's various mountain ranges, the landscape spreads out into broad basins, which include the Bighorn Basin and Powder River Basin in the north, the Wind River Basin in the west-central region, and the Green River, Red Desert, and Washakie basins in the southwest. The rather flat and open eastern side of the state, except for the Black Hills region, drops gently into the Great Plains.
Crossing through the center of these basins is the Continental Divide. On the east side of the divide, waters flow into the Missouri–Mississippi drainage system. On the opposite side, the Colorado and Columbia basins both have major contributors originating in Wyoming.
More than 70 percent of the state's lakes, rivers, and streams eventually drain into the Missouri River finally reaching the Atlantic Ocean. There is also a unique area in the Great Divide Basin where water flows neither eastward nor westward but remains trapped instead between one of the watersheds, forming a group of ponds known as Chain-of-Lakes.
The early development of Wyoming was closely linked with the fur trade and followed later by the great westward migrations. Although the French may have been in the area in the late 18th century, it was John Colter who brought fantastic stories to St. Louis in 1810 following several years of trapping in the Wyoming mountains. Some of the more famous of the early mountain men to explore the area include Thomas Fitzpatrick, James Bridger, Jedediah S. Smith, and Jeremiah Johnson. By the 1840s the route west through Wyoming was in steady use by settlers headed toward Oregon and California and the old fur trading posts become stops along the Oregon Trail. In 1868 the region became the Territory of Wyoming, with Cheyenne as its capital. Although the fur trade entered a state of decline beginning in the 1840s, the territory continued to advance economically as huge herds of cattle were driven up from Texas along the cattle trails. Population growth and economic development continued in the late 1800s. Wyoming joined the Union in July 1890. In 1924, Wyoming became the first state to elect a woman governor, Nellie Tayloe Ross.
Most of the state's residents are either directly or indirectly involved in farming or ranching. The major dry-farming products include hay, wheat, and barley, and where irrigation is used to supplement the arid conditions, sugar beets and dry beans can be produced. Because much of the land is high desert with little precipitation and sparse grass cover, livestock operations necessitate large grazing areas for each animal. Sheep graze in places unfit for cattle, and both sheep and cattle are allowed to range by permit in the national forests. In 2000, Wyoming ranked second among the states in wool production and third in sheep and lambs.
Mining is the largest sector of the state's economy, accounting for about one quarter of the gross state product. Petroleum is the state's most important mineral; the production of petroleum and petroleum products is centered in Casper. Natural gas is also of considerable economic significance, as well as coal, sodium carbonate, and uranium. Wyoming has the world's largest sodium carbonate deposits and has the nation's second largest uranium deposits. Considerable amounts of gold, iron, and various clays are also mined. Important manufactures include processed foods and clay, glass, and wood products.
From Wikipedia:
Wyoming has a varied geography. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the south. Wyoming is the least populous U.S. state and has the second-lowest population density behind Alaska.
Wyoming's western half is covered mostly by the ranges and rangelands of the Rocky Mountains, while the eastern half of the state is high-elevation prairie called the High Plains. It is drier and windier than the rest of the country, being split between semi-arid and continental climates with greater temperature extremes. Almost half of the land in Wyoming is owned by the federal government, generally protected for public uses. The state ranks 6th by area and fifth by proportion of a state's land owned by the federal government. Federal lands within Wyoming include two national parks (Grand Teton and Yellowstone), two national recreation areas, two national monuments, several national forests, historic sites, fish hatcheries, and wildlife refuges.
Climate
Wyoming's climate is generally semi-arid and continental (Köppen climate classification BSk), and is drier and windier in comparison to most of the United States with greater temperature extremes. Much of this is due to the topography of the state. Summers in Wyoming are warm with July high temperatures averaging between 80 and 90 °F (27 and 32 °C) in most of the state. With increasing elevation, however, this average drops rapidly with locations above 9,000 feet (2,700 m) averaging around 70 °F (21 °C). Summer nights throughout the state are characterized by a rapid cooldown with even the hottest locations averaging in the 50–60 °F (10–16 °C) range at night. In most of the state, most of the precipitation tends to fall in the late spring and early summer. Winters are cold, but are variable with periods of sometimes extreme cold interspersed between generally mild periods, with Chinook winds providing unusually warm temperatures in some locations.
Wyoming is a dry state with much of the land receiving less than 10 inches of rainfall per year. Precipitation depends on elevation with lower areas in the Big Horn Basin averaging 5–8 inches, making the area nearly a true desert.
The lower areas in the North and on the eastern plains typically average around 10–12 inches, making the climate there semi-arid. Some mountain areas do receive a good amount of precipitation, 20 inches or more, much of it as snow, sometimes 200 inches or more annually. The state's highest recorded temperature is 114 °F at Basin on July 12, 1900, and the lowest recorded temperature is −66 °F at Riverside on February 9, 1933.
The number of thunderstorm days vary across the state with the southeastern plains of the state having the most days of thunderstorm activity. Thunderstorm activity in the state is highest during the late spring and early summer. The southeastern corner of the state is the most vulnerable part of the state to tornado activity. Moving away from that point and westwards, the incidence of tornadoes drops dramatically with the west part of the state showing little vulnerability. Tornadoes, where they occur, tend to be small and brief, unlike some of those that occur farther east. The most destructive tornado to occur in Wyoming happened on July 16, 1979 in Cheyenne and caused one death and 40 injuries.
Location and size
As specified in the designating legislation for the Territory of Wyoming, Wyoming's borders are lines of latitude 41°N and 45°N, and longitude 104°3'W and 111°3'W (27 and 34 west of the Washington Meridian)—a geodesic quadrangle. Wyoming is one of only three states (the others being Colorado and Utah) to have borders defined by only "straight" lines. Due to surveying inaccuracies during the 19th century, Wyoming's legal border deviates from the true latitude and longitude lines by up to half of a mile in some spots, especially in the mountainous region along the 45th parallel. Wyoming is bordered on the north by Montana, on the east by South Dakota and Nebraska, on the south by Colorado, on the southwest by Utah, and on the west by Idaho. It is the tenth largest state in the United States in total area, containing 97,814 square miles and is made up of 23 counties. From the north border to the south border it is 276 miles; and from the east to the west border is 365 miles at its south end and 342 miles at the north end.
Natural landforms
Mountain ranges
The Great Plains meet the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming. The state is a great plateau broken by many mountain ranges. Surface elevations range from the summit of Gannett Peak in the Wind River Mountain Range, at 13,804 feet, to the Belle Fourche River valley in the state's northeast corner, at 3,125 feet. In the northwest are the Absaroka, Owl Creek, Gros Ventre, Wind River, and the Teton ranges. In the north central are the Big Horn Mountains; in the northeast, the Black Hills; and in the southern region the Laramie, Snowy, and Sierra Madre ranges.
The Snowy Range in the south central part of the state is an extension of the Colorado Rockies both in geology and in appearance. The Wind River Range in the west central part of the state is remote and includes more than 40 mountain peaks in excess of 13,000 ft tall in addition to Gannett Peak, the highest peak in the state. The Big Horn Mountains in the north central portion are somewhat isolated from the bulk of the Rocky Mountains.
The Teton Range in the northwest extends for 50 miles, part of which is included in Grand Teton National Park. The park includes the Grand Teton, the second highest peak in the state.
The Continental Divide spans north–south across the central portion of the state. Rivers east of the divide drain into the Missouri River Basin and eventually the Gulf of Mexico. They are the North Platte, Wind, Big Horn and the Yellowstone rivers. The Snake River in northwest Wyoming eventually drains into the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean, as does the Green River through the Colorado River Basin.
The Continental Divide forks in the south central part of the state in an area known as the Great Divide Basin where water that precipitates onto or flows into it cannot reach an ocean—it all sinks into the soil and eventually evaporates.
Several rivers begin in or flow through the state, including the Yellowstone River, Bighorn River, Green River, and the Snake River.
Basins
Much of Wyoming is covered with large basins containing different eco-regions, from shrublands to smaller patches of desert. Regions of the state classified as basins contain everything from large geologic formations to sand dunes and vast unpopulated spaces.
Basin landscapes are typically at lower elevations and include rolling hills, valleys, mesas, terraces and other rugged terrain, but also include natural springs as well as rivers and artificial reservoirs. They have common plant species such as various subspecies of sagebrush, juniper and grasses such as wheatgrass, but basins are known for their diversity of plant and animal species.
Islands
Wyoming has 32 named islands; the majority are in Jackson Lake and Yellowstone Lake, within Yellowstone National Park in the northwest portion of the state. The Green River in the southwest also contains a number of islands.
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