Which part of Idaho do you like the best? (Clark Fork: move, architects)

[slingshot]

I have lived in northern Idaho, my two younger sons were born near Sandpoint. I was a weldor at Squeeky's Welding Shop for three years and at a shop named The Forge for two more back in the late 70's and early 80's. When we traveled to the Sandpoint area we came into the state east of Idaho Falls then traveled up Hwy 28 to Salmon then 93 to Missoula, Montana then back into Idaho on I-90 to CDA then up 95 to Sandpoint. So, my answer has to be the top two counties.

[folkguitarist555]

well from what I have read...Idaho falls gets the coldest, and has the longest winter season, then N Idaho, then Boise....at least N Idaho gets some rainfall as well....

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by starrider434

well from what I have read...Idaho falls gets the coldest, and has the longest winter season, then N Idaho, then Boise....at least N Idaho gets some rainfall as well....

More or less. What you read is a very wide generalization.

There are towns that are colder, and some towns that are wetter than others. They are all small towns, though, not cities. The fact is winters are cold here and are equally long from one end of the state to the other.

Due to idaho's terrain, the general weather patterns for any winter always tend to shift around. Some winters are colder in the north than in the south and vice versa. The same is true with the snowfall. Elevation plays a very large part of the local climate all over the state.
The most dependably cold place in Idaho is Stanley. Naturally enough; it's sitting on top of mountain in an area that already has a high elevation.

The thing about winter here is nothing different from living in the others states of the Intermountain West. If a person hates cold winters, Montana, Idaho, N. Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, and east to Colorado are not places to expect 70º in December. Ain't gonna happen in most of the northern their of states either.

But the real reason people move and stay here is because of all the other stuff that is here and is not. We don't have a lot of people, and we do have a lot of natural beauty, plenty of open spaces, clean air and water, wildlife, and the other things many folks want in their lives.

Winters here are no more or less tolerable than they are in Illinois, New York, Iowa, Michigan, or anywhere else in the northern half of the country. The only big difference is Idaho's climate is dry, so our snow is powder much of the time.

[banjomike]

Speaking of cold winters….

It was 57º in Idaho Falls yesterday! The golf courses were completely full on the 10th of December!
The temps here have been in the high 40s for over 2 weeks now. The last wintry day we got was on the very first couple of days of December, then it turned warm and has stayed there.

We are due for a storm over the weekend, but unless the temps really plunge, I think all we will get is some snow that turns to rain later on.

[nice2bfree]

Originally Posted by banjomike

Speaking of cold winters….

It was 57º in Idaho Falls yesterday! The golf courses were completely full on the 10th of December!
The temps here have been in the high 40s for over 2 weeks now. The last wintry day we got was on the very first couple of days of December, then it turned warm and has stayed there.

We are due for a storm over the weekend, but unless the temps really plunge, I think all we will get is some snow that turns to rain later on.

I've been watching temps and other weather points for TF and am just amazed that snow doesn't seem to be a big thing there. If I can believe in wunderground for accuracy, TF just amazes me. We're sitting on over 12" of snow right now, no where near what Buffalo got, and I'm seeing these balmy fall-type temps, wishing I were there!

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by nice2bfree

I've been watching temps and other weather points for TF and am just amazed that snow doesn't seem to be a big thing there. If I can believe in wunderground for accuracy, TF just amazes me. We're sitting on over 12" of snow right now, no where near what Buffalo got, and I'm seeing these balmy fall-type temps, wishing I were there!

Twin Falls is often a little warmer than the cities along the eastern corridor.

As a lifelong native, the winters over the past decade have not followed the typical weather patterns I've seen all my life. Earlier, southern Idaho typically went through a 10-year cycle of warm and dry winters, followed by a decade of cold and snowy winters. These decades didn't necessarily follow calendar decades; most often, they would start a few years into a calendar decade, and some cycles didn't last as long as others.

But since ca. 2004, the winters have been typically warmer and drier than the 90s, which started with a brief warm cycle that ended by 1995. The warm winters we've had since 2004 have been odd as well as warm. One winter started typically, with Halloween being a freezing night, but by late December it warmed for several weeks, enough to thaw some flower beds around Idaho Falls. The thaw was followed by a blistering cold snap that lasted almost as long. Rose bushes died all over town from that weirdness.

3 years ago in Idaho Falls, the winter was very warm and dry; I bought a new set of winter tires in February, and it was so warm the day I bought them the guys at the store joked I wouldn't need them. They were right, but the following spring was so cold and wet that they made good rain tires until the end of June.

Cold wet springs seem to have become common here since then. And last summer, we had over a month of very rainy weather throughout the month of August. it rained so much that barley and wheat crops were sprouting in their heads, something I've only seen once before. October this year, which is almost always a very dry month, was similarly rainy, and this has happened in October a couple of times this decade.

In a year when we get snow, we get a lot. Most often, the snow isn't wet, though- I've seen as much as 3 feet of powder drop in a day, and when it warms enough to melt it a bit, it turns into about 7 inches of 'normal' snow. Our snow is seldom as wet as the snow Buffalo gets.

[KurtAngleDoesn'tSuck]

Originally Posted by banjomike

3 years ago in Idaho Falls, the winter was very warm and dry;

Wasn't just IF. That was my first winter ('11-'12) in Boise and it snowed exactly once. On New Years Day I was outside in shorts and tee-shirt taking the Christmas lights down off the house.

Following year was colder and snowier, but pretty mild since. Heck, here we are in mid-December and the local ski area can't even open. Bogus Basin is well named.

I need to be where it snows on Christmas at least half the time and Boise ain't it. Hopefully NID will provide the winter-wonderland I love.

[TohobitPeak]

Originally Posted by KurtAngleDoesn'tSuck

Wasn't just IF. That was my first winter ('11-'12) in Boise and it snowed exactly once. On New Years Day I was outside in shorts and tee-shirt taking the Christmas lights down off the house.

Following year was colder and snowier, but pretty mild since. Heck, here we are in mid-December and the local ski area can't even open. Bogus Basin is well named.

I need to be where it snows on Christmas at least half the time and Boise ain't it. Hopefully NID will provide the winter-wonderland I love.

There can be delays, beyond mid December, regarding opening dates for north Idaho ski areas too including Schweitzer. *pineapple express* is one example which has happened in the past. Currently at Schweitzer, there are only 3 of 9 lifts running and 2 of 92 runs open. Basically, expect delayed winter weather in North Idaho too, but winter and snow is more dependable up there compared to here in the Boise Valley.

A lot of us who live in Boise and are familiar with the surrounding mountains know where to go to enjoy snow if there is no snow in the valley. Many of those place are a quick drive up Highway 21 to snow shoe, cross country ski, sled. I like snow here in the city but also like when there is no snow in the valley and it stays up in the mountains. This scenario is one reason why cycling is so awesome in Boise, it can be done year round for the most part except for those occasional days there is snow on the ground.

[Publius4]

Originally Posted by KurtAngleDoesn'tSuck

I need to be where it snows on Christmas at least half the time and Boise ain't it. Hopefully NID will provide the winter-wonderland I love.

Not this year, at least so far. We had a couple mild dustings in CDA that quickly melted. We were hoping for our first Christmas in Idaho to be white. We'll see ...

[Ivan Bilic]

Never actually been to Idaho. But seen some pictures of Boise. And I must admitt, I liked it very much. Especially snow. I've seen pictures of city centre under snow, and white snow covered mountain in the background. What is the name of the mountain anyway?
I guess it has to be very cold winter overthere....