Physical Geography

Kansas occupies part of two great physiographic divisions of the United States: the Great Plains and the Central Lowlands. The land slopes downward from west to east—from about 4,000 feet (1,200 m) above sea level near the Colorado border to less than 700 feet (210 m) in the southeast.

The Great Plains section spans the western two-thirds of the state. It lies at elevations between roughly 1,500 and 4,000 feet (450 and 1,200 m). The extreme west is part of the region known as the High Plains. In some localities the general flatness of the Great Plains is broken by fairly deep river valleys, belts of hilly land, mesas, buttes, and sand dunes. Among the hilly belts are the Smoky Hills, north of the Arkansas River, and the Red Hills, to the south.

The Central Lowlands section covers the eastern third of the state. Landforms are mainly low-lying plains and prairies, with broad river valleys and some hilly areas. In the southeast are the Flint Hills, which rise as much as 400 feet (120 m) above the adjoining land. Northeastern Kansas is the only part of the state that was glaciated during the last Ice Age.

The Kansas and Arkansas rivers drain most of the state. The Kansas, fed largely by the waters of the Smoky Hill, Saline, Solomon, Republican, and Big Blue rivers, drains the north and empties into the Missouri River at Kansas City. The Arkansas River, together with its tributaries the Cimarron, Verdigris, and Neosho, drains nearly all southern Kansas. Flowing eastward into Missouri is the Marais des Cygnes River.

Kansas has no large natural lakes but there are more than 20 reservoirs, impounded by dams. Among the largest are the Glen Elder, Tuttle Creek, Milford, Kirwin, Cheney, and Cedar Bluff reservoirs.

Because of the state's inland location, its varying elevation, and its exposure to air masses from the north and the south, Kansas has a continental climate with highly variable temperature and precipitation. Normally, winters are cold and summers hot. Average January temperatures range from about 26° F. (-3° C.) in the northwest to about 35° F. (2° C.) in the southeast. Average July temperatures are near 80° F. (27° C.) throughout the state. Temperatures above 100° F. (38° C.) and below 0° F. (-18° C.) occur several times each year.

Precipitation decreases from about 35 to 40 inches (890 to 1,020 mm) annually in the east to about 16 to 18 inches (410 to 460 mm) in the west. Droughts of varying severity periodically occur. Depending on locality, the annual snowfall is between 10 and 24 inches (250 and 610 mm).

Storms frequently strike Kansas. Among these are tornadoes; violent thunderstorms; blizzards; and wind, dust, and hail storms.

When settlers arrived in Kansas the vegetation consisted largely of grasses—tall grasses in the east and short grasses in the west. The only major exception was in the southeast, where there were deciduous forests as well as grasslands. Today, little remains of the native grasslands, except in a few scattered areas, mainly in the Flint Hills. Most of the forests are gone, although native trees are still found in farm woodlots and along rivers and streams.

Most of the large animals that once roamed Kansas' plains, including buffalo, elk, and deer, are gone, largely because of indiscriminate hunting and the destruction of the natural habitat through farming. Only small animals, such as the coyote, fox, skunk, squirrel, jackrabbit, and prairie dog, remain in significant numbers. There are many kinds of birds and fish.