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No you're right, SE ID is not Alaska LOL. Maybe way up in Glacier NP is more like AK.
Your area of interest sounds like the area north of Inkom; could be quite interesting... and I noticed a lot of trees there. If you would be 30 minutes from Pocatello, than that is not bad atall; we are looking a places where we would be 1.5 to 3 hours, 1-way, to box store shopping! It is BIG country out there. But 30 minutes is closer than most of Grayson County VA or places Mountain City TN to major shopping.
You ought to scour this forum and maybe even the WY and MT forums to learn about livestock and water and acreage in this region. I don't know a thing about it, but have been impressed with the notes and contributions on this site, made by many who are knowledgeable in the matters of livestock and land management. Understanding water rights is essential IMHO if you are thinking about livestock; it can be limited as to how much you can have/use. As I understand it, water rights are all state permitted/regulated and can run with deeds, etc., but others will be able to tell you better. You just can't drill a well and pump what you want AFAIK.
OP, I originally come from Carter Country TN, and have lived most of my life in the southern Appalachians. The big differences I have found in our few winter weeks in and around ID (plus summer trips too) is the dryness. The humidity levels on average are far, far below what you have known. Those drizzly, clammy cold days of 35F and 95-100% humidity like you have no doubt experienced are rare out in the northern Rockies. So for me, the lower winter temps in that area is offset by the winter air typically being much, much drier.
You can put on layers of woolen and synthetic clothes with a wind-proof outer layer and not feel the dry cold. Just trend away from cotton clothes in winter, even down to your underwear. We have been out snowmobiling at -35F in the central mtns in ID and felt pretty good. So just some simple adjustments to things like that can make a big difference.
The dryness can also be a bother for sinuses and related respiratory conditions; that seems to vary a lot from person to person. We met a 'rangerette' from Bluff City TN who did not have problems with it, but another fellow from that area, who we spoke with in Boise, was really bothered by it. My wife has more issues than me, and we both buy 'nasal gel' to help keep our nasal passages moistened when we visit, winter or summer.
Wind can be another matter. If you live in a 'holler' back here in the Blue Ridge Mtns, then the wind may be a factor that can be disconcerting in some parts of the west. But it will varies locally in ID; if you are in a open plain area or in a long high valley that is open at both ends, and into which the wind can 'settle' and blow, then you can get lots of really windy days. But other valley areas in ID and that region can be much calmer; the valleys like around Jackson Hole and Star Valley, WY, and Stanley ID, are deep closed valleys and the winds push up and over them a lot. But places like the Camas Plain, the Wind River and Madison River valleys in WY and MT, and probably much of the Snake River Plain, are quite exposed to wind. (Now, if you want WIND move to WY!)
SE ID climate is typically going to be a lot milder than some places further north, and is pretty sunny overall. But as BJM notes, your local elevation is going to also be a determinant in your temps.
If you are looking at Pocatello, my take on the snows is mostly 'pffft' LOL. Yes, it snows and it can hang around but what you deal with depends more on how level your roads are. In the Appalachians, the matter is not the depth of snow, but the steeper average grades on the roads that you have to deal with. We were in Boise in their worst winter in years (2017) and it was a breeze getting around due to most road grades being fairly mild. Of course, if you live up on the northern hillsides above Pocatello, then you can have more issues.
So, think about the dryness, where you proposed home will be to try to account for winter winds, and the actual roads to/from where you plan to live. If you are out and away from town, the being out in the mtns in SE ID could be a challenge; you can be a loooong way from anywhere. Then you need to start think about studded winter tires and chains and such. But parts of the Appalachians require the same thinking. (I had no problem getting around in winter for 7 years in the midwest, because I was prepared from my time back home.)
If you want to be more specific about where you are thinking of in Bannock County, that might help get better info. It is a big county, with quite a variety of terrain and elevations.
In Pocatello, the weather is more harsh with adverse conditions than in Ada County, Boise which gets less snow. Want more snow go north to CDA. Wyoming the wind will blow you away.
Yes, but most of the Snake River Plain area is flat. That makes driving in snowy conditions a LOT easier.
One other interesting thing: Dry and very cold snow is actually more 'grippy' than wet snow between 20 and 30F. So that helps out in the northern Rockies.
More snow? Go to Island Park ID, West Yellowstone MT, or around Moran and the Togwotee Pass in WY. Those locales exceed 200" per year on average.
One other interesting thing: Dry and very cold snow is actually more 'grippy' than wet snow between 20 and 30F. So that helps out in the northern Rockies.
This is a good point, when it's cold enough that it doesn't melt into a slippery mixture under tire pressure, it's almost more like driving on sand - still not very stable, but not an instant Slip and Slide at least!
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