most of it here in Flint Hills.
Just as Kansas’s
topography
varies
across the state, so too does the cli-
mate. Eastern Kansas has hot, humid
summers and cold winters. In the
west, summers are less humid and
winters are subject to wild fluctuations
and extremes.
Northeastern Kansas averages
about 35 inches (89 cm) of rain per
year and enjoys the longest growing
season in the state. Western Kansas,
by contrast, receives only 16 to 20
inches (41 to 51 cm) of rainfall a year.
The wettest part of the state is the
Ozark Plateau in the southeast, where
up to 46 inches (117 cm) of rain can
fall per year. Average snowfall in
Kansas ranges from less than 5 inches
(13 cm) in the south of the state to up
to 35 inches (89 cm) in the northwest.
Kansas is prone to severe thunder-
11
Lower Plains: Kansas, Nebraska
The Flint Hills in southeast Kansas were named because large amounts of flint can be found
throughout the region. The prairie in this area still looks as it did before the arrival of Europeans.