Locals call it the "snowbird mating call" - a turn signal on a large, luxury automobile left blinking for miles, indicating a lane change that will never happen.
It's a sign to give the car a wide berth. A snowbird is at the wheel, which means anything could happen."This is probably one of the most dangerous places in the world to drive," local contractor Brandon Blake said. "Snowbirds don't know what they're doing. Every day you see some Cadillac smashed up someplace."
Fortunately for the locals, snowbirds only make St. George their part-time home, and the benefits they bring during the winter months make their driving misadventures easier to overlook.
Ever since pioneer leader Brigham Young built a winter home in St. George in the mid-1800s, this desert red-rock town in the southwestern corner of Utah has been a haven from snow and cold for northerners. And with its gateway location to several national parks, St. George today has a growing profile as a year-round retirement community.
When the snowbirds come here to roost, the city's 45,000 population swells by 15 percent and St. George becomes, in the words of 66-year-old Dale Webber, "a seniors' playground."
The snowbirds begin their annual migration around the first week of October, and the influx continues through Thanksgiving.
Soon, as many as 10,000 retirees seeking shelter from the harsh winters of northern Utah and Idaho populate St. George and surrounding Washington County.
The locals have learned to coexist.
"They become a big part of this town while they're here," St. George Chamber of Commerce president Chapin Burks said. "They're everywhere."
The city and county have been cited by everyone from Rand McNally to Money magazine as one of the top retirement locations in the United States. In promotional material for the city, the AARP notes St. George's "small-town feel without sacrificing big-city amenities."
Up to 15 percent of the homes in St. George are second homes, with the percentage growing larger each year. Thousands of seniors rent in the area and participate in time-share arrangements.
Most snowbirds come for the weather. St. George has daytime winter temperatures that hover in the 50s and rarely dip below freezing, compared to the 20s and 30s regularly faced in northern Utah and Idaho.
Because of its predominantly LDS population, the town is particularly attractive to members of that faith. Some congregations of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the retirement enclaves of Green Valley and Bloomington double in size during the winter months.
The reason these seniors become snowbirds is usually the same: They're not ready to sell their homes and move full time to a retirement community.
"When we decided to retire, we didn't want to move away from our families and only see them at holidays," Salt Lake City native Webber said. "We kept our house up north, and we're just a half-day's drive away."
Countless condominium developments dot St. George's landscape, and almost all of them have time-sharing snowbirds as a large portion of their tenants.
"It's been a steady source of income for us for a long time," condominium developer Jack Terry said. "Every year, it seems like somebody else is building timeshares, and the market continues to grow."
Snowbirds say they love St. George's warm weather and slow-paced lifestyle.
"This is really the perfect place to spend a few months because it's so relaxing," Lee Grott, 69, said. "We come down in early November and don't go back to Bountiful until the middle of April . . . and we wish we could stay longer, but our time share runs out."
St. George is also home to an active support network for seniors. A periodic newspaper, Meals on Wheels, bus services, free health screenings and continuing education in everything from horseshoes to English literature is easily available.
For those who enjoy Nevada-style pursuits, three casinos in Mesquite are a 35-minute drive away, and the many pleasures of Las Vegas are less than two hours down I-15.
Snowbirds tend to be physically active. The World Senior Games are held in St. George every October. Seniors flock to St. George's nine golf courses and numerous horseshoe pitches.
"I play golf every day," Webber said. "It keeps me from getting old."
The living is easy for snowbirds in southern Utah, and "an amazing number" drive Cadillacs, Buicks and other luxury cars, Terry said.
"They're like crows," he said. "If it's big and shiny, they want it."
Reports of snowbirds' eccentric driving skills are often exaggerated but rarely without basis in fact. Luxury car repair shops report significantly increased business during the winter months. So do car dealerships and retail stores, including the large outlet mall on the city's east side.
"Sometimes you can go in ZCMI or Wal-Mart, and you're the youngest person in there," said Blake, who suffered $6,000 damage to his pickup truck in August when it was smashed by a snowbird while parked at a local grocery store. "They drive shopping carts even worse than they drive Cadillacs."