Is Coeur D Alene's Winter Really That Cold & Miserable?? (Coeur d'Alene: buy, living)

[banjomike]

I think the one thing all Idahoans have the hardest time with is the length of our winters.
They can start very early; often by the middle of October, and can last well into mid-May. The cold comes before the snow, most often, but it's very common to have some early snow in September and late snow in May. That snow never lasts for long, but they always come with a cold snap that can last for a week or more.

There was one particularly long winter around 1986 I still remember; it froze hard on Oct. 4th, and it never rose above freezing for more than a day until the following Easter. It wasn't a particularly snowy year, but it was one that had a lot of overcast all winter.
By the first of April, my family and I were all coming down with a terminal cast of cabin fever, so I packed us all up and went down to Zion Natl. Park for an Easter vacation, where the weather was about 40 degrees warmer and everything was blooming.
It did wonders for us. When we returned, we found the eternal winter had finally broken up here at last, so we didn't return to the bitter cold we left a few days before.

That's how it has always been here. No one can ever say just when winter will set in, or how cold it will be. The 21st century had a very long spell of warm dry winters with more rain than snow, but there has always been a rough 10-year cycle of open winters and snowy winters.

The last cycle seems to have ended in 2015, which was a more typical snow year, and last year winter came very late, after a Thanksgiving blizzard that didn't stick, with a Christmas blizzard that did stick and was followed by heavy snow all winter long.

But the temps last year weren't as cold on the average as many have been. The cold does wear on a person, and when there's little snow on the ground, the cold is even colder.

But that's life in the intermountain west. I once spent the last day of June at a wedding party, under a big tent, watching the snow fall all day long in Montana. Cold and snow are a part of life here and always have been.

[Sandpointian]

Originally Posted by banjomike

I think the one thing all Idahoans have the hardest time with is the length of our winters. They can start very early; often by the middle of October, and can last well into mid-May. The cold comes before the snow, most often, but it's very common to have some early snow in September and late snow in May. That snow never lasts for long, but they always come with a cold snap that can last for a week or more.
...
By the first of April, my family and I were all coming down with a terminal cast of cabin fever, so I packed us all up and went down to Zion Natl. Park for an Easter vacation, where the weather was about 40 degrees warmer and everything was blooming. It did wonders for us. When we returned, we found the eternal winter had finally broken up here at last, so we didn't return to the bitter cold we left a few days before....

But that's life in the intermountain west....Cold and snow are a part of life here and always have been.

^^ everything BM said.

I also second the idea of the Winter vacation. In fact, for planning purposes, why not budget two Winter getaways to AZ/UT. Flights are reasonable nowadays and the cost of living down there is not bad.

If you do it twice a year and live nicely, you are dropping $3k a winter for a couple. Multiply by 20. $60K over 20 years.

Then for six months, you have pure bliss here. the other three is a combination of winter and tourists.

Hard to beat.

S.

[banjomike]

I know lots of natives who become snowbirds for a month or so and go to warmer climes around the first of February.

Some own those trailer park specials- travel trailers that are designed more to be parked most of the time, like a mobile home than hitched behind a pickup and rolling over the road. Many own time-share condo spaces and stuff like that, too.

My own brother wants to be a snowbird these days, but so far, not me. I still like it when it's blistering cold and blindingly sunny at the same time here. Can't say for how much longer I'm gonna love it though... sure spent a lot of time hunkered close to the fire last winter, and never got out any played hard in the big snow like I used to.

A winter like last year's was always one that would find me outside more than inside when I was younger, but age is catching up, as it always does.

[Sagle Sam 2016]

Another thing I can add that is irrefutable is that by March, there is a noticibke part of the population that is grumpy, depressed, and desperate to see the sun and some warmer weather.

[Sandpointian]

Originally Posted by Sagle Sam 2016

Another thing I can add that is irrefutable is that by March, there is a noticibke part of the population that is grumpy, depressed, and desperate to see the sun and some warmer weather.

"Tis very true! Nothing like that first 60* day!

[banjomike]

On a suprisingly hot day one spring, I was working outside and felt very strange.

I realized I was sweating for the first time in months.

[Jimbo302]

I didnt think the winters were bad at all. It never seemed as harsh as the temperature implied.

[mistyriver]

The worst thing about winter for me is the shortness of the days. We are really far north up here and though we have gloriously long summer days, We pay for it with the daylight fading at around 3:30 in December. That is the absolute worst thing for me in winter.
I started putting up Christmas lights earlier and leaving them on longer to combat the gloom.

They go up November 3rd this year. We have just taken to calling them winter lights rather than Christmas lights.

[Sandpointian]

smart--to use the indoor lights for that. Our current house was much darker and stuffier. We added a couple of windows, converted a bunch of fixed to sliders and single hung, and increased the size of the front door and light. Shutters instead of curtains. Makes a huge diff.

It is worth thinking about other ways to combat the gloom along your lines.

[volosong]

I've noticed that my house in Rathdrum, (new construction), is pretty dark once the sun moves from the east to the south, (about 9:30 or 10:00). I think I can "fix" that by having several solar lights installed. Two in the kitchen and one in the laundry room.

Hopefully, that will brighten up things, but with the short days and cloud cover, maybe not. Worth a try. It's silly to have to turn on the lights in the middle of the morning because it is so dark inside. Dumb design. The builders really need a woman on their design staff.