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Cody is located at 44°31'24" North, 109°3'26" West (44.523244, -109.057109) 1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 24.7 km² (9.5 mi²). 24.0 km² (9.3 mi²) of it is land and 0.6 km² (0.2 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 2.52% water.
The Elevation of Cody is roughly 5000 ft above Sea Level. The main part of the city is split across two levels, separated by about 60 feet.
The Shoshone River flows through Cody in a fairly deep ravine. There are exactly three bridges over this river in the Cody vicinity, one at the north edge of town that allows travel to the north, and one about 5 miles east of Cody that allows passage to Powell and the areas to the north and east. The third bridge is west of town, and allows access to the West Gate of Yellowstone National Park.
Cody is located at the western edge of the Big Horn Basin, a depression surrounded by the Big Horn, Wind River, and Absoroka ranges. At the western edge of Cody, a deep canyon formed by the "north fork" of the Shoshone River provides the only passage to Yellowstone's Eastern Entrance. At its mouth and rising above Cody are Rattlesnake Mtn. on the north side, and Cedar Mountain on the south side. Most of Cody has a spectacular view of Heart Mountain, whose 8000 ft. peak is 9 miles directly north of Cody, and the Carter Mountains, which form a line with peaks at about 12,000 ft, some 15 miles to the south.
Themes surrounding Cody's pioneer and Cowboy and Western history are common in the cultural events and activities in the area. The Buffalo Bill Museum is a large and modern facility located near the center of the city, and contains large collections, and is a favorite stopping point for tourists passing through the town, on their way to or from Yellowstone. During the summer, a re-enactment of a wild-west shootout takes place next to the Irma Hotel, another historical site still open for business with a hotel and restaurant, which forms the nucleus of the town.
Cody has several art galleries, and seems a magnet for artists. Some fairly famous painters and artists live in the area, and galleries feature things that vary from paintings to statues.
Another industry is western style furniture, with several small furniture makers producing custom peices. An example would be Santos Furniture. All of these businesses seem to seek out unique local woods and craft them into useful works of art.
Another notable example would be Norseman Design, which does totally custom furniture, promising never to produce exact copies of anything they make, whether it be desks, conference tables, chairs, or beds -- each the result of hundreds of hours of work by highly skilled wood crafters and artists.
The oil industry seems to wax and wane over the years in the Cody area. Marathon oil at one time had a large refinery just across the river on the north end of town, but it has since been dismantled and almost all traces of its existence are now gone. The office building is still there, and forms a large facility on the upper level of Cody, next to the post office. Celotex is a large factory that produces "sheet rock" or plaster board for construction. Just to the south of Cody are large deposits of Gypsum, which are being mined for the plant.
Another large business is the Y Tex Corp, which produces plastic ear tags for cattle, goats, sheep, etc. These tags are distributed all over the world, and their bright orange, green, red, yellow and blue tags with large black numbers can be seen gracing cattle almost anywhere.
A large contribution to the local economy are the local farmers and ranchers. The local climate does not often treat them kindly, but these hard-working, innovative businessmen have endured and are a strong presence in the area.
The Park County school system is another large employer in the area.
The weather in the Big Horns are highly variable. Large temperature swings are always possible. Cold winters can normally bring lows of -40 degrees F. and hot summers can bring 100 degrees F. The humidity of the air is usually 30% or less, which is fairly dry. Precipitation averages 9 inches of rain per year, making the surrounding area a semi-arid desert. As a personal observer and a resident of the area for the past 11 years, I have seen it snow every month of the year in Cody or its environs, except August. During the summer months of June, July and August, if it does snow, it is usually brief and melts quickly. Such events are not frequent, but points out that travelers in the region should always be prepared for sudden and drastic shifts in weather conditions.
Cody enjoys about about 300 days of sunshine per year.
Wind is almost a constant presence in the Cody area and the Big Horn Basin in general. The air flow in the Basin is turbulent, but during the winter, most storms seem to move in from the north-northwest. During the summer, it is not unusual to see storms move in from the southwest. Throughout a normal day, winds can be experienced as coming from almost any direction, mostly from the north and west, but sometimes from the south and east! The Canyon at the west end of Cody seems to funnel rain and wind across the city from the west. The winds can be quite strong (30-40 mph) and last for several days.
Because of the dryness of the climate, the entire area is laced with irrigation canals, holding ponds, laterals, and drops. The Buffalo Bill Dam between Rattlesnake and Cedar mountains forms a large reservoir about 10 miles to the west of Cody. This reservoir (among others) feed a large system for irrigation water distribution.