Geography of Dallas Essay Example
Dallas, Texas “Everything’s bigger in Texas,” a widely known saying, may very well be true when it comes to the size of the state, but is everything in Texas really bigger? Researching the Lone Star state, the second largest state in the nation, Dallas seemed to be the largest city as well as the center of it all; and it also could be used as a good representation of the state’s overall average climate. The Dallas “metroplex is located in North Central Texas, approximately 250 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico” (Dallas/Fort Worth Climatology). To appreciate the large and intricate city, it is valuable to know the climate, vegetation, soils, landforms, and the environmental issues that are present in Dallas, and see how they affect one another. The temperature during the summer months may be “bigger” or higher than your typical state, but exploring deeper into Dallas’s physical geography, will help conjure present what makes up it’s physical attributes, and most importantly, why. After living in Dallas all of my life, I have come to recognize the range of temperature from month to month, as well as the precipitation that is typically received. The majority of Texas is a warm-temperature climate zone (Physical Features Influencing Vegetation in Texas); however, the Dallas-Fort Worth area can more specifically be described as having a humid subtropical climate, with hot summers (Dallas/Fort Worth Climatology). It can also be characterized as continental because of the wide range of annual temperature, and the scorching summers is caused by the westerlies and the low humidity (Dallas/Fort Worth Climatology). Observing the Dallas climograph, it can be inferred that the average precipitation and temperature have a direct relationship. Based on the annual temperature data, it can also be concieved that the summer highs reach way into the high 90’s, with cooler nights around the mid 70’s (NWS). Rainfall typically occurs during nighttime in