moving to Utah (Provo, St. George, Draper: how much, home, living in) - (UT) - City-Data Forum

Miguelito's wife · 05-19-2010, 10:07 PM

Living in Florida right now. Moved here from Las Vegas. We love the west and want to go back but not to LV. I don't want to deal with too mch snow. Aside from St Geoge, what part of Utah would have the least amt of snow. We are retired and there are no children to be considered. With advancing age being near shopping would be great. Is there public transportation in any of the cities. We have been thinking about Draper. Does the snow stick for very long? Thanks

markg91359 · 05-20-2010, 08:04 AM

Living in Florida right now. Moved here from Las Vegas. We love the west and want to go back but not to LV. I don't want to deal with too mch snow. Aside from St Geoge, what part of Utah would have the least amt of snow. We are retired and there are no children to be considered. With advancing age being near shopping would be great. Is there public transportation in any of the cities. We have been thinking about Draper. Does the snow stick for very long? Thanks

.................................................. ..................................................

The simple answer is that there aren't many other places. Maybe no places at all. The reason for this is two-fold: 1. St. George is tucked in the very southwest corner of Utah and you couldn't go any further south.; 2. The second reason is that the elevation in St. George is lower than any other place in the state. If memory serves me, its about 2700 feet elevation. You realize this pretty quickly driving north out of St. George and Washington County. You gain about 3000 feet going north on I-15 in just fifty miles. Its a totally different climate in Cedar City. Its often as cold or colder there because of the elevation.

Kanab might be the closest thing. However, its higher than St. George and I promise you the weather is not as good. Kanab has a total population of 3000 and there is no public transportation. There are few restaurants, no Walmart, and no chain stores. The local economy that does exist revolves completely around tourism.

Northern Utah--Draper--as you mention--is certainly an option. However, the snow does stick everywhere in Northern Utah in the winter. Winters vary considerably in their length and severity from year to year. All the services you require are there though.

MrAnderson · 05-22-2010, 12:43 AM

In the Wasatch Front snow is common during winter. It usually doesn't stick around for too long as the average winter highs are about 35-40 degrees. The further from the benches of the mountains, the lower the elevation, and a minimal less amount of snow.

The Salt Lake area has great public transportation and much more coming up from commuter rail, to light rail, to bus service.

sp2007 · 05-24-2010, 11:36 AM

We moved here from Florida too. I've used public transit a lot and its made the transition from sunny driving to snow driving a little more bearable.

Good luck with your move.

ChrisC · 05-26-2010, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrAnderson

In the Wasatch Front snow is common during winter. It usually doesn't stick around for too long ...

This is deceptive. There are years that we have very little snow. But that is not the norm. Winters are typically snowy. For anyone who has not dealt with driving or living in snowy winters, it does not serve them well to say it 'doesn't stick around for too long.' (hypothetically) Coming from Florida, and having never really dealt with snow, I would take that to mean it snowed once or twice a year with maybe quarter of an inch and melts in an hour or two (like it does in the deep south). That is NOT the case. Draper gets an average of about 33 inches of snow per year. Most locations along the Wasatch get more. If you go farther west, you will get less snowfall, but winter temps are even colder (on average) than along the Wasatch. Same thing farther east.

If you are going to enjoy Utah (except for possibly in the St. George area), you'd better like snow. Otherwise, you will be moaning and groaning all winter long about how cold and snowy it is. I hear that enough to be pretty annoyed with it. Why move here and complain about cold? Ahhhhhh, that's right, because someone told you we don't get much cold and snow.

kaytidid · 05-26-2010, 02:54 PM

Too much snow and too cold is very relative. More than an inch of snow and colder than 60 degrees is too much for me. I love Utah though and just deal with it.

lisamikefoster · 05-26-2010, 03:51 PM

Stick with St. George and everything south...oh yeah, that's Arizona!

St. George is great though...and if you aren't looking for work, it's even better. It's close to incredible mountains, National Parks, desert vistas...decent stores to shop (you can find anything you need), and ok dining...not great, but ok...

It's clean, safe, great park systems, and very liveable...good luck!

MrAnderson · 05-26-2010, 11:42 PM

By doesn't stick around, I mean literally, as it typically melts in the next day or two, due to above freezing averages (35-40). But yes, it snows throughout winter (which I also said).

SouthernBelleInUtah · 05-27-2010, 07:03 AM

I moved here (SLC) from the South (New Orleans and Oxford, Miss.) and I think it snows a lot. And it sticks around, sometimes for a week or more. It's cold, which I like, but if you've only lived in warm climates, it will be an adjustment. This past Dec. was the coldest month in years - temps in the 10 deg. range at night and for a week straight, it never even got to freezing (32 deg.) in the day.

ChrisC · 05-27-2010, 10:17 AM

Yes, sometimes it snows and melts in a day or two. Sometimes it snows and doesn't melt away for a month. Occasionally, it doesn't melt all winter. I'm not trying to be combative here, but we are talking about someone who asked and is coming from Florida. A quarter inch of snow there is a major event. In some areas significant snowfall would be on par with the second coming.

I think the best way to 'settle' this is by using some climatic data as to how much snow is on the ground (on average) during any given month. This stat is the sort of thing that if you walk out of your home on any given day, how deep of snow would you expect in your yard.

The numbers are such for my area (Provo Area): November--no ground cover with 4 total inches of snow. December--3 inches on the ground with 19.8 inches of snowfall; January--7 inches on ground with 19 total inches of snowfall; February--6 inches on ground with 7 total inches of snowfall; March--1 inch on ground with 7.8 total inches of snowfall.

Here are the numbers for SLC: November--no cover with 6.3 total inches of snow; December--1 inch on the ground with 11.6 total inches of snow ; January--4 inches on the ground with 14.7 total inches of snow ; February--2 inches of snow on ground with 10.2 total inches of snow ; March--no ground cover with 9.9 inches of snow.

So, early and late in the season, yes, it snows and melts quickly. But as can be seen, on average, during the winter it does not. You can also see with the above data that there is significant variation (not quite as much snow in SLC downtown proper as compared to Provo, but go to the benches and add on several inches, or go to the south west end of the valley and take some off)--there are various micro-climates around here. There are areas that get much more snow within just a few miles. Others don't get quite as much. For instance, Wendover gets almost no snow at all, but is on average a bit colder in winter than SLC. The Vernal area is significantly colder than SLC in the winter, but gets less snow. And Randolph? It's on average 10 degrees colder than SLC all winter long. Utah's geography causes some pretty wild swings in precip and temps. In any case, it's consistently cold (if you're from Florida) no matter the region, except St. George, and even that may seem cold at times.