Winter storm watch in effect for some, Thursday night through Saturday morning

Fresh snow and sunshine today give way to cloudier, stormier weather starting tomorrow. We have a winter storm watch in effect for the mountains and the highlands of eastern, and southeastern Idaho, and in western Wyoming. It starts Thursday afternoon and continues through Saturday morning. This looks to be the first major snowfall of the year for some of the mountain locations with 1-2 feet of new snow forecast.

Tonight: increasing clouds, chilly, with patchy fog. Overnight lows in the teens and 20s. 

Thursday: patchy morning fog with increasing clouds through the day and afternoon snow showers. Initially the snow will be light and mostly stick to the high country, but we could some of it make it into the Snake River Plain. Temperatures will be chilly with highs in the upper 20s and low 30s. 

Friday, a First Alert Weather Day: scattered snow showers in the mountains with occasional rounds in the valleys. Winds will pick up in the afternoon across the region. Combine that with occasional heavy snow squalls and it's easy to see (or not see) how visibility on some of the mountain passes could get bad at times. We do anticipate temperatures to slowly rise through the day, meaning some areas in the Snake River Plain could see a rain/snow mix by the afternoon. Either way, this will be a solid snow maker for the mountains. Snow totals through Saturday morning are forecast as follows:

Lower valleys/plains: 0-2", isolated 2-4"

Highlands/mountain valleys: 4-8," isolated 8-12"

Higher mountains: 8-16", isolated 16-24"

Saturday, lingering snow showers particularly in western Wyoming, breezy, and slightly milder temps in the mid to upper 30s by the afternoon. Between the wind, a bit of melting and then refreezing Friday night, some roads could be slick on Saturday morning. By the afternoon count on some breaks in the clouds with highs in the upper 30s.

The rest of the forecast through the middle of next week looks unsettled as a flow of storms continues on top of us. A warming trend though means highs will climb into the 40s and possibly low 50s by the middle of next week. That means during the days with precipitation chances, rain is more likely for the valleys than snow. The mountains will continue to see snow showers, but they'll be intermittent and likely a bit wetter and heavier in consistency.