Geography of Wyoming

It is drier and windier than the rest of the country, being split between semi-arid and continental climates with greater temperature extremes.

[3] Wyoming is a dry state with much of the land receiving less than 10 inches (250 mm) of rainfall per year.

The lower areas in the North and on the eastern plains typically average around 10–12 inches (250–300 mm), making the climate there semi-arid.

Moving away from that point and westwards, the incidence of tornadoes drops dramatically with the west part of the state showing little vulnerability.

The most destructive tornado to occur in Wyoming happened on July 16, 1979 in Cheyenne and caused one death and 40 injuries.

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 (0.8 km) in some spots, especially in the mountainous region along the 45th parallel.

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.

Much of Wyoming is covered with large basins containing different eco-regions, from shrublands to smaller patches of desert.

[19] Regions of the state classified as basins contain everything from large geologic formations to sand dunes and vast unpopulated spaces.

[22] Wyoming license plates have a number on the left that indicates the county where the vehicle is registered, ranked by an earlier census.