Editing Mitchell, Oregon (section)

==Geography and climate==
Mitchell, in southwestern Wheeler County, is on [[U.S. Route 26 in Oregon|U.S. Route 26]] just east of its intersection with [[Oregon Route 207]].<ref name="DeLorme"/> By highway, the city is {{convert|47|mi|km}} east of [[Prineville, Oregon|Prineville]] and {{convert|60|mi|km}} west of [[John Day, Oregon|John Day]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Directions |url=http://mitchelloregon.us/?page_id=69 |publisher=City of Mitchell |access-date=August 15, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321024714/http://mitchelloregon.us/?page_id=69 |archive-date=March 21, 2012 }}</ref> To the city's south lie the [[Ochoco Mountains]], the source of Bridge Creek. It flows through Mitchell and then north through the Painted Hills to the [[John Day River]].<ref name="DeLorme">{{cite book |title=Oregon Atlas & Gazetteer |edition=7th |publisher=DeLorme |location=Yarmouth, Maine |pages=76−77 |isbn=978-0-89933-347-2}}</ref>

Eroded remnants of ancient [[stratovolcano]]es, once the size of [[Mount Hood]] are nearby; these include Black Butte and White Butte, visible from town.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bishop |first= Ellen Morris |year=2003 |title = In Search of Ancient Oregon: A geological and natural history |location=Portland, Oregon |publisher=Timber Press |isbn= 978-0-88192-789-4 |pages=86–92}}</ref>

{{wide image|12 vertical panels pano painted hills.jpg|1110px|Panorama of the Painted Hills, northwest of Mitchell}}

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the city has a total area of {{convert|1.26|sqmi|sqkm|2}}, all of it land.<ref name="Gazetteer files">{{cite web |title=US Gazetteer files 2010 |url=https://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_places_national.txt |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=December 21, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120125061959/http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_places_national.txt |archive-date=January 25, 2012 }}</ref>

Precipitation in the region is limited by the [[rain shadow]] effect of the [[Cascade Range]] and the Ochoco Mountains to the west.<ref name ="JODA climate">{{cite web |title=John Day Fossil Beds: Nature and science |publisher=National Park Service |url=http://www.nps.gov/joda/naturescience/index.htm|date=September 24, 2006 |access-date=July 7, 2011}}</ref> In winter, much of the precipitation arrives as snow.<ref name ="JODA climate"/>