I took the earlier picture a little before noon. This picture was taken about four hours later. It has continued to snow lightly all afternoon and the National Weather Service has extended its snow advisory alert:

The National Weather Service In Pocatello Has Issued A Snow Advisory For The Eastern Magic Valley And The Lower Snake River Plain Until 12am Tonight. A Winter Storm Moving Through The Region Today Is Generating Widespread Snow Over The Intermountain Region. So Far Today… Most Areas In The Snake River Plain And Southeast Highlands Have Received 1 To 2 Inches Of Snow. Widespread Snow Showers Will Continue This Evening… Becoming Scattered After Midnight In The Snake River Plain. Additional Snowfall Of 1 To 3 Inches Is Expected Over The Snake River Plain This Evening With Total Accumulations Of 3 To 5 Inches… Mainly South Of A Line From Blackfoot To Burley. Scattered Snow Showers Will Continue Through Sunday With Local Accumulations Up To An Additional 2 Inches.

The storm shows on radar as a fairly long line across this region and is moving slowly to the east. There appears to be another wave of the storm behind it. All in all, this is very good news. We would like to get a lot of snow so that the drought around here can abate somewhat. This picture was taken of the back deck showing the inch or so of snow that has accumulated during the afternoon. According to the weather service report, we’re right on schedule with the rest of the region for snowfall accumulation.

I’ve been designated as the driver to take Jared to the airport tomorrow afternoon. His airplane leaves around 4:30 p.m. so we’ll leave directly after church — or if it is still snowing, we may leave a little bit earlier. About forty-five minutes south of here is the infamous Malad Pass which is just enough higher and situated in just the right position to get a lot of miserable weather. I’ll take the Tracker and Nina will drive the Toyota up the Rexburg, giving me the four wheel drive vehicle to take over Malad Pass. By the time we go through there tomorrow, I expect that the road will be plowed to the bare pavement.

I may also need to go buy some gas and oil for the snow blower!! Who knows — I may have to get some snow out of the way before we can leave in the morning! The "investment" may yet prove its worth. I’ve put the machine together, but haven’t put any fuel or oil into it or read the directions. I’ll go out to the garage in a few minutes to get the book and figure out what I need to do in case using the machine turns out to be worthwhile. Keep it up, snowstorm!