Why is Altitude so key for snow level on the West coast, but not so much the East?

Question

is it because the air masses of the atmosphere tend to be more horizontally stable on the west coast due to long marine fetch?

Example. In Reno Nevada where I grew up, Major differences between snow depth and a rain/snow change can occur within just a couple hundred feet but on the East coast and Rockies, while this may be true, the Elevation factor is much more vague and sporatic.

Life time Weather hobbyist / fashion model

Tristan Aged 24

Answer 1

West cost has moutians, East coast has big hills. The elevation on the East coast dosen't get high enough to produce snow during various times of the year (Summer.)

If that's not it I bet it has to do with all the water laiden air coming from the Ocean. (The air is moved West to East.)

Answer 2

In the east it's often below freezing all the way to sea level. In the west, at least as far east as the Sierra, it's warm enough at the lower altitudes so that the falling snow melts and reaches the ground as rain. Or the clouds may themselves be low enough not to freeze until the weather pattern lifts them over the mountains.