I have lived in MT, UT, FL, RI, WA, UT, MT, UT, CO & UT in that order. I can say that as much as I would like (I think) to live in TN or KY for the weather it won't happen. All my kids are in the west.
From a weather viewpoint, I love the spring, summer and fall in MT. I have lived half my life there and while the winters have ameliorated since the '60s it can still be, umm unpleasant there in Jan (Nov - Feb actually).
CO is a nice place for all four seasons, though winters can give you a hammer now and then, but short lived. I have seen 15" of snow fall on Mon/Tue and it is gone by Wed.
UT is nice though the summers are heating up each year. Used to be we would get a day or two each summer above 100, but now it is not uncommon to have 10 - 15 days in a summer north of 100, but it is a dry heat...just like your oven.
After living on the east coast for a while, I won't go back to live. I enjoy a relative humidity in the 25-35% range too much. When we first moved to Jacksonville, we learned to put all cereals, crackers, etc in locking containers to keep them from going to mush. In Utah, you learn that when your brown sugar gets hard and dried out to put in a slice of bread. Different ways of living.
The perfect climate for living is spring, summer, fall in Montana and winter in HI. Few can afford it. Anywhere west of the divide means drought, but no hurricanes and virtually no tornadoes.
The middle of WA would not be a bad place, like the Tri-Cities area or Yakima. Lots of fruit/vegetables grown in the Yakima area, not just apples.
I would stay away from southern WY though unless you like to be snowed in for a week or two. I have seen Cheyenne closed down due to blizzards for 2 - 3 weeks at a time. Yet Denver 100 south gets more reasonable snow that melts.
I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love.... It seems to me that Montana is a great splash of grandeur....the mountains are the kind I would create if mountains were ever put on my agenda. Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans. Montana has a spell on me. It is grandeur and warmth. Of all the states it is my favorite and my love.
John Steinbeck