Big changes in forecast. After a few minor storms, we’re finally getting a taste of real winter weather as several storms move through.

From Thursday there will be scattered snow showers throughout the day. Expect an average of 1 to 4 inches of snow in valleys including the Snake River Plain, with mountainous areas seeing 4 to 6 inches and some remote locations seeing more. This is just for Thursday. Adding more snow for Friday gives a two-day average snow total of about 3-6 inches in the valleys, 6-10 inches in the highlands and 10-18 inches in the mountain areas. Pretty good.

We’re not done yet on Friday, however, as another storm is expected to bring more moisture over the weekend. It will be mild enough for the valleys to experience rain or a rain/snow mix during the day and snow overnight. Both storms will be windy at times, so blowing snow will be a problem. Some mountain passes could be tricky until the plows get through.

Finally, it looks like we’ll calm down and cool down around New Year’s Eve, with daytime highs mostly in the 20s and overnight lows in the single digits and low teens.