Everything about High Plains United States totally explained
» This article is about a geographic region in the United States. For the High Plains of Victoria and New South Wales, Australia, see High Plains (Australia).
The
High Plains are a subregion of the
Great Plains in the central
United States, located in eastern
Colorado, western
Kansas, western
Nebraska, central and eastern
Montana, eastern
New Mexico, western
Oklahoma, northwestern
Texas, and southeastern
Wyoming. In some definitions of the subregion, parts of western
South Dakota and
North Dakota are included. From east to west, the High Plains rise in elevation from around 750 m (2500 ft) to over 1800 m (6000 ft).
The High Plains are
semiarid, receiving between 250–500 mm (10–20 in) of precipitation annually.
Shortgrass prairie and
scrub vegetation cover the region, with occasional
buttes or other rocky outcrops. Agriculture in the forms of
cattle ranching and the growing of
wheat,
cotton and
sunflowers is the primary economic activity in the region. The aridity of the region necessitates either dryland farming methods or irrigation; much water for irrigation is drawn from the underlying
Ogallala Aquifer. Some areas have significant
petroleum and
natural gas deposits.
The High Plains has one of the lowest population densities of any region in the continental United States;
Wyoming, for example, has the second lowest
population density in the country before
Alaska. In contrast to the rather low and stagnant population in northern and western High Plains, cities in
west Texas have shown sustained growth.
Amarillo and
Lubbock, Texas both exceed populations of 200,000. Smaller towns often struggle to sustain their population.
Due to low moisture and high elevation, the High Plains commonly experiences wide ranges and extremes in temperature. The temperature range from day to night commonly exceeds 15 degrees
Celsius, and 24-hour temperature shifts of 20 to 25 degrees Celsius are not unknown. The region is known for the steady, and sometimes intense, winds that prevail from the west. The winds add a considerable
wind chill factor in the winter. The development of wind farms in the High Plains is one of the newest areas of economic development.
The combination of oil, natural gas, and wind energy along with plentiful underground water, has allowed some areas (such as west Texas) to sustain a range of economic activity, including occasional industry. For example, the Asarco refinery in
Amarillo, Texas has been in operation since 1924 due to the plentiful and inexpensive natural gas and water that are needed in metal ore refining.
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