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>>>I enjoyed a green lawn until Christmas one year. At 6 PM on Christmas, I saw “thunder snow” for the first time. Lightning, thunder, high winds, then 12 inches of snow in about 45 minutes. The first layer arrived as jaw breaker size balls of snow. As the store progressed, it became more like granulated sugar. There was almost two feet accumulated by 9 PM. The snow plow operators were sitting in their plows and unable to go anywhere until after 9 PM. Zero visibility white out. It’s different in Pocatello :-)<<<

Just as an aside - what’s the retirement situation down there like? My wife and I are looking at Idaho as one of the places to retire to... green grass on Christmas sounds nice... and I’ll bet the snow was all melted within two weeks.

Take my word for it - after living up here next to the treeline in Alaska, no place will ever seem cold.

The cost of living is low. Real estate has held value over the past 10 years. The coldest time tends to be the first week of December. Annual liquid precipitation is about 17 inches. Four of those inches fall as 40 inches of snow. The norm is small snow falls for 3 to 6 inches. One or two "whoppers" with a foot or more. My city streets are plowed to clean asphalt by 7 AM most of the time. Snow that falls by Thanksgiving is usually on the ground through mid-January.

The caveat is that the median income is $30K and job opportunities reflect that reality. Lots of service jobs (retail, restaurant, city government). The decent paying jobs at the Idaho National Labs put you into a bus riding exercise at 5:30 AM to 5:30 PM to reach the site.

If you like Alpine or cross country skiing, you can do that within a 15 mile drive from town. Fishing, mountain biking, hiking is great in the local area. Sand dunes (450 square miles) at St Anthony. Yellowstone National Park is 150 miles from my house. Higher end skiing is available at Sun Valley, Grand Targhee and Jackson Hole. Just a little more driving.