Snowfall/Winters in Western Montana (Missoula, Cut Bank: live, to move, activities)

[tailg8r22]

Hello folks...I have been reading the Montana posts for about a year now and feel like I have a good idea about different areas, etc. My husband has family in the Twin Bridges area and has been desperately wanting to move. My question is...which towns/areas in western Montana get the least amount of snowfall and harsh winds? I guess what I am really wondering is where are the mildest winters? Sun and heat don't bother me. I realize that I am faced with harsh winters...just trying to narrow down the least harsh. I appreciate any input.

[mtboy]

Montana has harsh winters everywhere. There isn't neccesarily a location that is least harsh. Once you get on the western side of the state snowfall increases and wind decreases, the eastern part of the state snowfall decreases and wind increases. IMO. It all can be bad just depends on what you don't like.

[bigtrees]

Originally Posted by tailg8r22

Sun and heat don't bother me.

Generally Montana is the wrong state for a person not bothered by sun and heat. Don't get me wrong, it does get hot in the summer for about a month or two (and is surprising hot) but Montana is known for cold and long winters rather than sun and heat.

[grizzfan]

One of the mildest areas in Montana stretches from Dixon to Paradise to Plains. In that area there are several melon farms, vegetable farms and tree nursuries. Whiles these activities exist elsewhere in Montana, they are not without wind and very cold temperatures. This area is the mildest in Montana in the winter.

[NYMTman]

The Bitterroot, Mission, and Missoula valleys are also fairly mild in comparison with the rest of the state. The Flathead gets more snow, though.

Elsewhere, it's basically "pick your poison." Either a lot of snow or a lot of wind.

[Reziac]

Conversely, Twin Bridges and that entire valley spends most of the winter vying for the "coldest spot in the continental U.S." award. Many a time Ennis has been the nation's cold spot.

[bigtrees]

Originally Posted by Reziac

Conversely, Twin Bridges and that entire valley spends most of the winter vying for the "coldest spot in the continental U.S." award. Many a time Ennis has been the nation's cold spot.

I think you mean the lower 48's cold spot. Alaska frequently gets colder than Montana, but Montana is often one of the coldest places in the lower 48.

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by bigtrees

I think you mean the lower 48's cold spot. Alaska frequently gets colder than Montana, but Montana is often one of the coldest places in the lower 48.

Continental U.S. does mean the same as the "lower 48", as the phrase traditionally excludes Alaska.

Regardless of that, many a time Montana's low temps have surpassed those for Nome and Fairbanks on the same day.. when I was a kid, I used to check that all the time (Fairbanks, Wolf Point, and Cut Bank usually battled it out for the bottom spot, with Ennis frequently bumping 'em all aside). For some idiotic reason, when you grow up somewhere Really Cold, you want it to be THE coldest place, not merely second-worst!

[LRUA]

Cutbank,MT often can be the cold spot in winter but sometimes West Yellowstone gets the honors at other times of the year

....believe it or not Alamosa,Colorado quite often is the cold spot in the lower 48 ...northern Minnesota is not too shabby either with towns International Falls and Warroad being the coldest

...but Montana holds the record for coldest temperature ever recorded in the USA (excluding Alaska) ....-70 at Rogers Pass, now that's cold (coldest in North America is -81 at Snag, Yukon in 1942)

[jarsmom]

I think any northern climate will be cold in the winter, If you are coming from a warmer climate, you need to consider that, esp if youve never lived where you get 6 months of winter, and 6 monts of company ha ha. It seems like the past 10 or so years it hasnt been as cold or quite as much snow, but some years are the exception. In western MT the hardest part of winter is the inversions when it is grey and dreary for so long.