Utah’s Geography Notes

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.

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

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.

Precipitation is a fancy word for rain and snow.

Our Water Supply (continued)

• Orographic Lifting –

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.

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.)

• 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

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

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