Is Coeur D Alene's Winter Really That Cold & Miserable??

[mtngirlatheart]

Originally Posted by mistyriver

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.

I do this too. I also tend to keep the ones outside on the porch up all year long. Out here in the very rural part, there's not much for lights at all once the sun goes down.

[movinmom2]

Hi everyone in Idaho.....We currently live at 4500 ft. elev. near Yosemite, and get snow from Oct.-May. We are used to using a snowblower, and we just don't go anywhere if the snow is bad. We currently have to travel 30 mins. to a Walmart. We are considering retiring in the Rathdrum area. The elevation is 2000 ft. lower, still rural area, but close enough to city, CDA, where a variety of stores exist. We live on 2 acres now, but it is getting harder to keep up as we get older. It would be an adjustment living close to neighbors, but one that would probably outweight the negatives. We have been to CDA, in the summer, but not the winter. Everything I read about the winters doesn't sound much different than what we have. Please comment if you have any other suggestions? TIA

[volosong]

Originally Posted by movinmom2

Hi everyone in Idaho.....We currently live at 4500 ft. elev. near Yosemite, and get snow from Oct.-May. We are used to using a snowblower, and we just don't go anywhere if the snow is bad. We currently have to travel 30 mins. to a Walmart. We are considering retiring in the Rathdrum area. The elevation is 2000 ft. lower, still rural area, but close enough to city, CDA, where a variety of stores exist. We live on 2 acres now, but it is getting harder to keep up as we get older. It would be an adjustment living close to neighbors, but one that would probably outweight the negatives. We have been to CDA, in the summer, but not the winter. Everything I read about the winters doesn't sound much different than what we have. Please comment if you have any other suggestions? TIA

First, don't for a moment think that Rathdrum is "rural". It is not! Maybe on the northeast fringes, but most of the town is just that, a smaller town. And with aspirations of being a much larger town. It is growing very rapidly and the only thing that will slow it down is for the economy to 'belly up'. We get no help from the pro-growth city council.

Rathdrum is also at a crossroads of a type between tourists and their destinations. Two numbered state highways intersect and pass through town, and they carry heavy traffic

I made it through my first winter without any problems. You'll learn pretty quick how to drive on snow, (not usually a problem), and ice, (you have to be much more careful on ice). I have a short, slopped driveway and only used my new snowblower once last winter. It was my inaugural use of the thing. I did not use it again all winter and found a snow shovel to be just as efficient and quick.

My driveway is heated, but I learned pretty quickly to not use it. Sure, it melted the snow/ice on the driveway, but the water drained to the unheated sidewalk where it froze into an ice dam. I just need to get out before the snow plows come by and compact the snow into ice.

All said, I like being in Rathdrum. It is apart from other cities in the area, but close enough to get back into the circus when I want a little bit of excitement or to do some shopping, (there is precious little in Rathdrum). If you want more rural, true rural, take a look at Athol.

[Jimbo302]

I never thought it was that bad, especially being in town. Buy good tires, some ice melt and a shovel, easy day.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

...........We are considering retiring in the Rathdrum area. ..........

Rathdrum barely qualifies as a town. More like a village. But it has a large service area, and there is a good grocery store, two excellent hardware stores ( seriously, better hardware stores than you will find almost anywhere else), an excellent veterinarian, several good restaurants and a couple of fast food restaurants, a dentist, two good tire stores, a bank....... in short, everything you need for day to day life. Walmart is 9-10 miles to the one in Hayden and probably about the same to the Walmart in Post Falls.

Rathdrum is noticeably colder with more snow than Coeur d'alene. The main roads are well plowed, but I don't know what sort of plowing you get if you buy one of the places up on the hillsides. Some of those roads don't look winter friendly.

[kttam186290]

Originally Posted by movinmom2

Hi everyone in Idaho.....We currently live at 4500 ft. elev. near Yosemite, and get snow from Oct.-May. We are used to using a snowblower, and we just don't go anywhere if the snow is bad. We currently have to travel 30 mins. to a Walmart. We are considering retiring in the Rathdrum area. The elevation is 2000 ft. lower, still rural area, but close enough to city, CDA, where a variety of stores exist. We live on 2 acres now, but it is getting harder to keep up as we get older. It would be an adjustment living close to neighbors, but one that would probably outweight the negatives. We have been to CDA, in the summer, but not the winter. Everything I read about the winters doesn't sound much different than what we have. Please comment if you have any other suggestions? TIA

The biggest thing you're going to notice is that you won't be able to drive down out of the snowy foothills into a warmer climate like the Central Valley. Driving from Rathdrum to Spokane or Coeur d'Alene won't change your climate conditions. It's not like California where you get little micro-climates in different places.

The second biggest thing you'll notice is that your Central California location provides much more daylight in the winter months (even with storms) than they get in the Idaho Panhandle.

[dlazo]

you need to live here at less ten years to get an idea how the winters are. I've been here 27 years and every winter is different. There are winters where you hardly shovel snow though these are not the norm. There have some with over 180 inches of snow in cda and much more North of there. These winters can make you cry! There was a winter in 1994 in spirit lake where the low temps were 25 below for seven days. there were also four winters 2012-2015 where it was really mild. If you crave sunshine then stay away from here in winter. We average 9 full days of sun from Dec through Feb.