Many of the basins are self-contained, meaning that they drain internally and are areas of water and soil accumulation. Of the three major provinces, the physiographic province that covers the smallest area in Utah is the Rocky Mountains, which is divided between the Wasatch and the Uinta Mountains. This province is particularly valuable to the state for the water, recreation, and minerals it provides. They are a fault-block range that is structurally similar to the mountains of the Great Basin.
Water from Wasatch streams has been essential to the settlement along the base of the range throughout recorded history. The Uinta Mountains are one of the few east-west ranges in the Rocky Mountains. The Uintas offer excellent recreational opportunities, but they are not as heavily used as the Wasatch Mountains because they are more distant from population centers.
Dixie National Forest, Southern Utah. Utah has three climatic regions—humid, sub-humid or semi-arid, and arid—and each region covers about one-third of the state. The high mountains and plateaus are humid; the lower basins, valleys, and flatlands are often arid; and the transitional places in between are sub-humid to semi-arid. The arid region generally receives less than eight inches of precipitation annually and has an annual evapo-transpiration rate often 30 to 50 inches.
The humid zone generally has eighteen inches or more of precipitation, and its precipitation by definition exceeds the evapo-transpiration rate. While most of the moisture in Utah is associated with frontal systems from the Pacific Ocean, there is a period in mid- to late summer when convectional rainfall is very important, particularly in the southern and eastern parts of the state. During this time, moist air masses from the Gulf of California or the Gulf of Mexico periodically enter the state.
The moist air is unstable and convectional processes frequently cause cloudbursts and flash flooding. The heavy convectional precipitation tends to be localized, but in the narrow canyons of southern Utah the danger of flash floods is high both from local cloudbursts and from heavy downpours that might fall many miles upstream.
Earthquakes and landslides are the two most serious landform-related natural hazards in Utah, whereas floods, wind, fire, and avalanches are the most prominent weather-related ones. Site Map Photography Whats New? All Utah Locations UTAH contains one of the greatest concentrations of spectacular geological features in the world, found mainly in the south and east of the state where the land is largely bare rock of many amazing shapes and colors.
Archaeologists know that people have lived in the land now called Utah for more than 12, years, thanks to a recently discovered Ice Age campsite. There, experts found a spear point used to hunt mammoths, as well as bones from waterfowl that prehistoric people probably cooked. Their descendants still live in the state today. The first Spanish explorers reached the land around But soon, in , Mexico won its independence from Spain and claimed parts of the area for itself.
In Utah became the 45th state. Utah is nicknamed the Beehive State because the early pioneers considered themselves as hardworking as bees. The name is thought to have been coined by people of the Mormon faith, who came to Utah in seeking religious freedom.
This western state is bordered by Idaho and Wyoming in the north, Colorado in the east, Arizona in the south, and Nevada in the west. The highest point in Utah is Kings Peak at 13, feet above sea level. One of the three highest states in the union, the Mean Elevation of the state of Utah is 6, feet above sea level. The Land. Located in the Rocky Mountain Region of the United States, Utah is a land of snow-covered peaks, natural rock formations, and beautifully colored canyons.
Utah's geography is characterized by three major land areas; the Rocky Mountains, the Basin and Ridge Region, and the Colorado Plateau.
Bryce Canyon Photograph by James Bynum. Climate All temperatures Fahrenheit. This record high was recorded on July 5, at Saint George. Average yearly precipitation for Utah, from to , is shown on this chart from Oregon State University.
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