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Today is going to be one of the wettest days on record at KSLC. I don't remember if measurements start at midnight or 1 am right now...but at any rate 1.6 to 1.7" of rain so far, with more to go. It will be the wettest March day on record with more precip than we average in the entire month.

Hit 74 today. Now under a WWA for 3-6" tonight/tomorrow AM. Back to normal spring in CO!

Haha, well in that case I think Montana is probably too snowy for you. It's also cold as a mofo up there during winter with the dry air and radiative cooling at night. If you want less than a foot of snow per year, I think you'll probably have to move south. A good proxy for convective vigor is lightning activity. Here's a high resolution, satellite-derived lightning map averaged from 2005-2014, first sorted by flash density, second sorted by stroke density . Gives a pretty good idea of where to expect the best convection: http://www.vaisala.com/VaisalaImages/Lightning/avg_fd_2005-2014_CONUS_2km_grid-800px.png Here is stroke density, as opposed to flash density. http://www.vaisala.com/VaisalaImages/Lightning/avg_sd_2005-2014_CONUS_2km_grid.png

Eh, I could manage half foot average in a year, or maybe more. Kind of like Pendleton OR amount of snowfall but then more amplified storm season? I figured East Montana may still have a relatively decent storm season (I know not as many supercells as Oklahoma...) but, they have their times. And it's the location where you don't necessarily "worry" about tornadoes. But they still get them of course.

Depends. What is your definition of "a lot" of snow? Honestly, if severe thunderstorms are your thing, I wouldn't recommend living anywhere west of the Rockies, because you simply won't experience much severe weather there. The ingredients for legitimate severe weather simply don't exist until you reach the Gulf of Mexico moisture plume, with the exception of monsoonal setups in the desert southwest on an occasional basis.

I do like a bit of changing scenery. Are there any locations in eastern Montana that doesn't get a lot of snow?

So..Oklahoma? Personally I'm not sure I could handle the flat, boring terrain that dominates the Plains. You can drive for hours and still be in the same climate zone.

Supercells. 'Nuff said. Well not exactly a disaster kind of area but in the middle. I do love storms. And maybe no 110 degree weather in the summer. SOME snow I will welcome in the winter but I have limits. K-Falls apparently is more than I want to bargain for.

I recently visited Snowshoe for two days, and it re-affirmed why I want to live there at some point. You drive through four different climate zones within a span of under 10 miles, eventually reaching the summit at 4900ft, which is a preserved ice age ecosystem of evergreen trees and loamy, glacial soil. Got there..and while lower elevations were blowtorching with temperatures in the 50s/60s, Snowshoe was poking into the heart of the cloud deck, with a temperature of 25 degrees and heavy rime icing, with winds sustained above 50mph. Then the cold front and thunderstorm line blew through, however the precipitation fell as graupel instead of rain, and it accumulated between 2-3". Winds gusted to 77mph at the village station, and the thunder/lightning was awesome. When the winds flipped W/NW behind the front, the upslope snows began and temperatures dropped to 5 degrees. A solid foot of snow fell over the next 10hrs, and winds were gusting around 60mph the whole time making for whiteout conditions and epic fun. Left the area the next day, and within 5 miles, went from a 20" snowpack and single digit temperatures to bare ground, green grass, and temperatures in the 40s. Amazing what topography can do.

I spy your 4 fave words "cooler near the lake" on the extended. Enjoy tomorrow though! I was in Chicago enjoying that first 70º back on Feb 18th - what winter day! Overall, only 1 day forecasted below normal, certainly have had worse colds, but the "tween" seasons stuff has gotten too much play time this year. A mostly useless March for a whopping 4" of snowfall isn't worth it if you ask me.

If any of you guys want to see a good movie, a dog's purpose is def. up there. Saw it last night and it's really good. Especially if you love dogs.. Trailer

The days of March '12 are a distant memory. Over the past few years, by this time I'm in AZ and unable to view the local news wx broadcasts. I happen to notice that every day over the past week, the daily record highs that were tallied back in 2012 (string of 80's). That was an incredible stretch.