Chapter 12: The Rocky Mountain Region

The Rocky Mountain Region

This week the topic is The rocky Mountain Region.  True to its name, this region is essentially the Rocky Mountains and the directly surrounding vicinity.  The Rocky Mountain Region spans from northwestern Canada down into the United States before ending in the New Mexico area.  On the U.S side, The Rocky Mountain region includes portions of: Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico.  The Rocky Mountains are composed of many discontinuous mountain ranges, and extends nearly 2000 miles from New Mexico to Northeastern British Columbia.  The Rocky Mountains contain some of the highest peaks in the United States and provides rugged, yet spectacular landscapes.  Rehoboth Beach is clearly not a part of this region, so we will compare the two locations, and see if we can draw any similarities between a popular beach town, and a very well-known mountain range.

As always, we will begin by comparing the climates because it gives good insight into the regions we are comparing.

The Rocky Mountains National Park

The Rocky Mountain region is arid and some portions receive only a little more precipitation than arid western deserts.  However, higher altitudes do tend to receive more precipitation.  In winter months, most precipitation falls in the form of snow.  Thus, ski resorts are popular throughout the region.    During spring and summer, the snow melts and supplies many rivers with water that ultimately helps desert communities thrive.  Similarly to The Great Plains,  The Rocky Mountain Region is influenced by cold and warm winds(chinook winds) that can result in large changes in temperature over a short time.  Additionally, the various elevations affect weather conditions.  High peaks tend to draw clouds for precipitation, and valleys often act as wind tunnels.  Additionally, higher elevations experience colder temperatures than lower elevations.  We have discussed the climate of Rehoboth Beach many times, and it should be apparent that these two regions have largely different climates.  First, Rehoboth Beach, and really Delaware in general, does not have drastic elevation changes that affect the climate.  In fact, Delaware is pretty flat overall.  Second, the Rockies experience large variations in temperature throughout seasons and even day to day.  As noted before, Rehoboth Beach, is moderated by the Atlantic Ocean, and thus does not experience the same extreme variation in temperature day to day.  Rehoboth experiences year round rain, and gets about the national average; however, excluding the higher elevations, the rocky mountain region does not get the same amount of year round rainfall.  Also, precipitation is generally in the form of rain for Rehoboth Beach, but in The Rocky Mountain region, precipitation is often in the form of snow.  Rehoboth Beach and The Rocky Mountain Region are clearly two rather different places in terms of climate, but based on their different geographic locations this is understandable.

Despite largely different climates, Rehoboth Beach and The Rocky Mountain Region do share a notable similarity.  As with other regions we have discussed, the similarity is tourism and vacationers.  Rehoboth Beach is famous for its summer time beach frenzy.  This influx of tourists and vacationers is seasonal and only occurs in the summer however.

Aspen, Colorado Ski Resort

 The Rocky Mountain Region has atractions that pull in tourists and vacationers too.  I'm talking about ski resorts in the winter, and hiking/camping in the spring-summer time.  Ski resorts are a very popular location for vacationers looking to get out and have an exciting and active trip.  One very well-known ski resort is Aspen, Colorado.  When the warmer months roll around, hikers and campers visit the region to explore the mountains and take in the awe-inspiring landscapes.


Despite the differences between the two regions, similarities do exist.  Next week the topic will be The Intermontane West.  Delaware is not included in the region so we will once again compare the two climates, and look to draw a similarity between the two.

Until Next Time,
William