The Great Plains Region The Great Plains are in the middle of our country This region is made up of dry grassland It falls between the Midwest region’s farmland to the east and the Mountain region to the west The Great Plains states include Montana North Dakota South Dakota Wyoming Colorado Nebraska Kansas New Mexico Oklahoma and Texas Washington Oregon Montana North Dakota Minnesota New Hampshire Vermont Maine Idaho South Dakota Wisconsin Wyoming Michigan New York Massachusetts Rhode Island Connecticut Nevada Nebraska Iowa Utah Colorado Illinois Indiana Pennsylvania Ohio New Jersey Delaware Maryland Washington D C West Virginia Virginia North Carolina South Carolina California Arizona New Mexico Kansas Missouri Kentucky Oklahoma Arkansas Tennessee Texas Alabama Mississippi Georgia Louisiana Florida 4
Though few people live in the Great Plains the land supports plant and animal life A wide variety of grasses grow Animals in the region include lizards prairie dogs weasels and rattlesnakes The Great Plains has a variety of grasses including blue grama buffalo grass crested wheatgrass and little bluestem 5
The weather in the Great Plains is one of extremes Most of the land in the Great Plains is flat There are very few trees so there is nothing to slow down the wind Cold winds blow down from the Arctic bringing cold dry weather Warm winds blow in from the Gulf of Mexico bringing warm wet weather Warm dry air blows across the land too These winds come from the deserts in the southwest 6
The low lying prairie gets a lot of rain The grasses there grow 6 feet 2 meters tall The high plains border more closely with the Rocky Mountains They get very little rain and so the grass is shorter The vast grasslands are a great place for ranchers to graze their cattle The Great Plains is also a good place for growing wheat corn and sunflowers When dry weather hits wet weather it can start a storm The warm air spins up and a tornado is formed The winds can reach 300 miles per hour 482 kilometers per hour Many tornadoes form in the Great Plains The area where they form is called Tornado Alley 7
