Montana weather (Missoula, Bozeman, Livingston: homes, construction, living)

[IndyC]

what kind of weather does Montana get in all 4 seasons?? I'm just curious cuz I might be moving there!

[MTSilvertip]

That is an easy question.
In the spring we get snow and rain and wind.
In the summer we get rain, wind and snow.
In the fall we get snow and wind sometimes a little rain.
In the winter we get more snow and lots of wind to drift the roads closed.

Sometimes we will get a month without snow, then we have fire season.

Montana is a very large place. If you want specifics you will need to indicate a region as weather varies a lot.

In the far west, they get snow lots of rain, not so much wind.
In the central part of the state we get snow, wind not so much rain.
In the eastern part they get Wind rain and not as much snow, but they make up for it with the wonderful invention of GUMBO!! That is a memorable substance that can cause strong men to break down and weep uncontrollably.

Usually between storms it is pretty nice. The snow melts a little, we dry out a little, and the wind drys out the fields but leaves the roads muddy.

Take your Pick!!

[IndyC]

Originally Posted by MTSilvertip

That is an easy question.
In the spring we get snow and rain and wind.
In the summer we get rain, wind and snow.
In the fall we get snow and wind sometimes a little rain.
In the winter we get more snow and lots of wind to drift the roads closed.

Sometimes we will get a month without snow, then we have fire season.

Montana is a very large place. If you want specifics you will need to indicate a region as weather varies a lot.

In the far west, they get snow lots of rain, not so much wind.
In the central part of the state we get snow, wind not so much rain.
In the eastern part they get Wind rain and not as much snow, but they make up for it with the wonderful invention of GUMBO!! That is a memorable substance that can cause strong men to break down and weep uncontrollably.

Usually between storms it is pretty nice. The snow melts a little, we dry out a little, and the wind drys out the fields but leaves the roads muddy.

Take your Pick!!

thanks!!! lots a snow!

[AQHA]

In Montana we have winter, and we have road construction season.

[MTSilvertip]

I somehow got the distinct impression you doubt my veracity.

You think I gave you a flippant answer. I wish. It has been snowing here since around 5:30 last night. Over 6 inches of new today, visability is down to about 150 yards, and still going strong. The forcast is for up to 15 inches last I heard. You may think I would pull your leg, Of course I would! Razzing greenhorns is one of our best forms of entertainment here!

But the old saw about 11 1/2 months of winter and 2 weeks of poor sledding isn't always that far off.

It started snowing this year on Labor Day, and pretty much hasn't stopped. Bozeman received around 10 inches on the ground last week.
Last year it snowed until June 1st.

We can get torrential rains and flash floods or if the snow melts too quickly the flooding is unbelievable. It doesn't spread out like floods further east because the mountains and foothills channel the water so you have these raging torrents of water tearing trees out of the ground, cutting channels across fields, through homes, It ain't pretty.

We get a lot of wind as well. The old joke about what do you call a log chain with one end nailed to a fencepost? A Livingston windgage. That joke is actually pretty true. When the end links start popping off the chain the wind is comming up a little.

60 mile an hour winds are considered a "Stiff Breeze" along the Yellowstone Valley. Sometimes the wind will really come up and push semi trucks over on the highway. They sometimes stay there until the wind dies down because you can't hold the trailers up in the wind.

The eastern end of the state can hit temps of 110+ in the summer, and the whole state can get chilly too. If a Siberian express hits, the temps can and have dropped to - 70. Metal freezes and becomes brittle at -40, and that happens just about every winter.

The Bitterroot, Seeley-Swan and Flathead are a lot more temperate, but they get SNOW. Lots of it at regular intervals.

This state is huge, bigger than some countries. The weather really varies between areas. It can be gorgeous, long summer evenings lasting until 10:00PM are my favorite.

But those days are not the norm. Long periods of grey skies and white fields are far more common than sunny days and green fields. Weather seen as extreme is pretty commonplace here. The only other place I have ever seen with our extremes is Alaska. Maybe Siberia, but I haven't spent any time there to compare.

If you are more specific, you can get answers that are specific to the area you are looking at.

Just a thought...

[rickers]

Originally Posted by IndyC

what kind of weather does Montana get in all 4 seasons?? I'm just curious cuz I might be moving there!

Better visit first. It can get cold as heck in the winter and hotter than heck in the Summer. Most folks don't even start their back yard veggie gardens until June. Our entire town is snowed in right now.

[Interpol76]

I cant speak for the rest of Montana...But I lived in Missoula. Missoula is horribly miserable during the winter months with inversion/pollution fog that gets traped in the valley for weeks. In fact, I believe the pollution in that valley rivals that of LA. Summers are wonderful, but only last for like 3 months. Even though summers are fairly nice... I can recall one summer snow falling in June!!! Also...temps can get up to like 95 in summer, and dont get me started on the freezing fog and thundersnow during the winter months! I miss that crazy place.

[FiveHorses]

Originally Posted by mtsilvertip

but they make up for it with the wonderful invention of gumbo!! That is a memorable substance that can cause strong men to break down and weep uncontrollably.

:d:d

(The big grins don't seem to want to work!)

[Stephan_K]

Did anyone mention it yet... It snows a LOT !

[rickers]

Originally Posted by Stephan_K

Did anyone mention it yet... It snows a LOT !

Here are pictures of my yard and rig after our last snow episode ! The bottom picture was the snow from our roof after the snow episode just before the last snow episode.