Winter weather in Bozeman and Kalispell (Whitefish, Circle: schools, stats, move)

[jafeighner]

We are wondering what winter weather is like in Bozeman and Kalispell- is it as grey as Portland, OR?

[Mt-7]

Originally Posted by jafeighner

We are wondering what winter weather is like in Bozeman and Kalispell- is it as grey as Portland, OR?

Hello and welcome, here is an older thread to get you started, post 10 I think addresses the Bozeman question.
Missoula vs. Bozeman

[cedar_bluff_tree_farm]

Whitefish is as grey as Portland, OR. Bozeman is much sunnier.

[Rickers]

Originally Posted by cedar_bluff_tree_farm

Whitefish is as grey as Portland, OR.

I've spent lots of time in these places and I have found Portland Oregon to be a lot more overcast than whitefish Montana. The City Data stats show Whitefish to be just a bit sunnier. I don't trust the data supplied by City-Data very much. I can point out several factual errors on their city info pages.

[gaduchman]

Kalispell is pretty much in open country - not many hills around there. What they do get is FOG and ICE. The highway dept dumps some kinda brown crud on the road - it melts the ice, then it freezes. You'll need studded tires.

[Rickers]

Originally Posted by gaduchman

Kalispell is pretty much in open country - not many hills around there.

It only looks open because it was heavily logged. The Flathead Valley used to be almost fully wooded and the valley is surrounded by mountain ranges. On the west side of the Flathead Valley is the Salish Range, the Swan Range is to the east of the valley and the whitefish range is directly north of the Flathead Valley. I Think the name Kalispell is either Salish or Kootenai for "meadow above the lake" and the "hills" that are found here and there within the valley I believe are drumlins. Flathead valley's "sister" valley, the Mission Valley has the Mission mountains to the east and the Salish Range to the west. It only takes a few minutes out of Kalispell to be in the mountains an almost any direction.

[jafeighner]

Thank you all very much! Post 10 was really helpful as are your comments. We are wanting to get away from the grey/rain of Portland to a sunny, snowy winter for skiing and snowshoeing. It sounds like Bozeman is better... Can little kids be outside playing in the snow in winter or is it too harsh? (our kids will be 1 and 3 if we do move next year) Also do you know anything about the schools? thanks again! PS Rickers did you post in another thread an actual location of where you caught a large fish? Isn't this against flyfishing code? : )

[cedar_bluff_tree_farm]

Bozeman is great for playing outside in the snow. The weather is colder than Whitefish, but since the humidity is much less when the temperature is cold, it is actually much more bearable. They actually flood the soccer fields in Bozeman with fire trucks in the winter and turn them into skating rinks. They can't do that in Whitefish because 3" of ice melts too easily.

However, you generally can't make snowmen in the winter in Bozeman because the snow is fluffy and doesn't stick together to make snowballs. Also Bozeman is pretty dry so it doesn't snow very much. White Christmas's weren't a guarantee there.

[Rickers]

Originally Posted by jafeighner

PS Rickers did you post in another thread an actual location of where you caught a large fish? Isn't this against flyfishing code? : )

I don't keep my fishing spots secret, because when I go fishing It's not really the fish that I'm after ! You are right though, I do remember making a post about a big one I caught in the Kalispell region, it was a 26 inch long Brook Trout I caught at the Quarter Circle Bridge in Glacier National Park.

[Analysis]

I think Boze is great in the winter and we've had white xmas every year here. We can make snowmen too, so there there's lots of sun most years so you can get out and xcountry ski, alpine ski of course. The schools flood the fields so the kids can skate.
Schools in MT in general are topknotch, if you do a search you'll see that the Bozeman district is excellent, Bozeman HS being voted one of the best in the country. It gets cold but most days you can get out in it.