Download - Utah’s Geography Notes
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Utah’s Geography Notes
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Utah’s Climate
• Climate is the “average” weather of a place measured over a long period of time.• Has this week’s weather been a good average for
Utah’s climate?
• Snow does not often build up in the valleys, but it does pile up deeply in the mountains!
• Even if it seems like we have a lot of snow in the mountains, it takes about a foot of snow to equal an inch of rain.
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Utah’s Climate (continued)
• The growing season is shorter in Northern Utah because the cold winters are longer– St. George has a longer growing season than
Farmington
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Our Water Supply
• Google Earth!• Most of our water comes more than 600
miles across California and Nevada from the Pacific Ocean.
• We in the valleys receive about 12.75 inches of rain per year– Deserts get less than 10
• Farmington is not a desert, but it’s close – it is a steppe climate.
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Precipitation is a fancy word for rain and snow.
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Our Water Supply (continued)
• Orographic Lifting –
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Our Water Supply (continued)
• Good point of orographic lifting: The Wasatch Range causes the the clouds to precipitate on us and on the mountains – where we store it in reservoirs!
• Bad point: There isn’t much water left in the clouds when they get to us.
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Our Water Supply (continued)
• Most rivers in Utah flow to either the Great Salt Lake or to the Colorado River (and from the Colorado eventually to the Pacific Ocean.)
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• Indigenous – a plant or animal native to an area
• Imported – a plant or animal brought to an area by man
Utah’s Plant and Animal Life
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Utah’s Plant and Animal Life
• Indigenous plants– sagebrush– grasses– dwarf oak– willows– creosote bush– mesquite– Joshua trees
• Imported plants– wheat– palm trees– fruit trees– tomatoes
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Utah’s Plant and Animal Life
• Indigenous Animals– deer– bear– bobcats– coyotes– cougars– buffalo– rainbow trout
• Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge makes a great summer home for migrating birds