Missoula winters

[jimj]

Originally Posted by rickers

The view from the freeway as you come towards Missoula from the north on 93 has a big housing development and I don't see any backyards ? It looks too much like a "Stepford Wives" neighborhood to me. Next there will be vending machines for soylent green supper tablets on the corners !
I hate those maize like parking areas in the strip malls north of Kalispell, I have a lifted rig and sometimes I feel like just driving straight over the curbs and landscaping straight through to the street !

I noticed those last time I drove to Missoula as well. There are no back yards, only common area fronts. The upside is if you run out of something all you have to do is stick your hand out the kitchen window and knock on your neighbors window to borrow something. I haven't seen housing like that since living in the Bay Area in CA and I didn't like it then.

As for the strip malls in Kalispell, I totally agree, what a pain to get in and out of. People complain about sprawl but they let them build these strip malls that stretch for a mile or more thinking that's better than having one large enclosed mall that only takes about a block of space with greenery all around it. Yeah, hate those big malls but love miles of asphalt parking lots and lines of buildings. I've seen malls that were sunken into the ground and had grass and tree berms all around the perimeter so you don't really see them until you pull off the road and drop into the parking lot. I don't see what's so bad about that idea. If shopping is going to be built and it sure enough is then why not try to compact it into one smaller area and design it to keep driving to a minimum. I think one thing that should have been done is to make all the developers of this strip buy and maintain a fleet of shuttles so you can park at one end and go through the whole thing without moving your car again. Maybe propane or LNG shuttle buses?

[rickers]

Yea like moving sidwalks lined with vending machines for a snack of Soylent Green !
I kinda miss living on my old sailboat !

[delta07]

Well, I just returned from Missoula last night and I had a great time! Went skiing at Snowbowl a couple of days and the snow was really great (especially compared with the winter of '05). The weather was much better than expected, but my sister insisted that it was pretty normal. It was overcast, but not real heavy clouds. The temps. were chilly, but not bone chilling. Once again the town vibe really attracted me, and it has moved to number one on my list for relocation. We will be going out there again in June, maybe to move this time!

[Eaglewoman]

I've lived and worked in various parts of Montana for the past 60 years. Missoula does have it's spells of grey, but nowhere near what the Pacific Coast does. Besides, the cold in Montana is a dry cold. That being said, Western Montana is damper than SW or Eastern. But you exchange damp for windy east of the Rockies. You might try somewhere up the Blackfoot along Hwy 200. More sunny days, a bit colder but not windy.
I remember the winter of '79. Had to go out everyday to feed my cows and it didn't get above -0 for 91 days. Even got down to -60. I bundled up, to say the least. But I enjoy those sunny, sub-zero winters a lot better than 100+ days anywhere else.
You can only take off so many clothes!

[Flyin Ties]

I am wondering how Missoula compares to SLC.
Anybody spent enough time in both to compare?
From what I have compared Missoula seems a little cooler and slightly more cloudy/ damp. With the potential for colder winters.

What about inversion? SLC this winter has been great with storms clearing the air frequently. How bad does the inversion get in Missoula? several days?
Several weeks?

what is the snowpack this year? better than the last few years?

thanks

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by Flyin Ties

I am wondering how Missoula compares to SLC.
Anybody spent enough time in both to compare?
From what I have compared Missoula seems a little cooler and slightly more cloudy/ damp. With the potential for colder winters.

What about inversion? SLC this winter has been great with storms clearing the air frequently. How bad does the inversion get in Missoula? several days?
Several weeks?

what is the snowpack this year? better than the last few years?

thanks

Well, you can see for yourself about the snow there. Take a look.

Missoula
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Missoula County Webcam Missoula County
Missoulian: Missoulian News (Also has weather and forecast)
Grizcam | University of Montana University of Montana (User controlled)

[chancey]

i live in missoula and ill tell you every winter here is difforent.. and it also depends when it is too. snow usually starts to fall around thanksgiving and it will stay in the 20s for a few weeks then get into the 30s and melt the snow a little and then snow again and melt a little and so on. i must warn that it is not rare for missoula to get into the single digits for a while.. but over all missoula is a very beautiful place in the winter as long as you can handle a little cold here and there.

[setnomacor]

I haved lived in Missoula for 11 years, and Montana for 30 years. It doesn't get as cold here, it's true. It doesn't get very much snow most years. I haven't had to plug in the car very often to start it. However, it is cloudy almost the entire year except for July and August. The average number of sunny days per year is 75, and in Portland, I beleive, it is 70. I am a sunshine person, too. The clouds can wreak havoc on a person's emotions. THis is my final Winter in Montana.

[OR2MT]

Originally Posted by delta07

Yikes!!! That doesn't sound to good. Thanks for the suggestion about southern Idaho, but I currently live in a climate similar to Boise's and I sick of the sizzling summers. We are also considering Bend, OR as well as staying in Colorado (just not our current location).

If you decide further on Bend OR. shoot me an email. We are ready to sell our house and move to Helena.

[delta07]

Originally Posted by OR2MT

If you decide further on Bend OR. shoot me an email. We are ready to sell our house and move to Helena.

Well, we did decide...we moved to Bend last July! We actually just bought a house not to long ago as well. Missoula is beautiful, but the economy (at least at the time we were looking, it has since tanked) in Bend was better for our situation. Good luck selling your house.