Old Man Winter just won't let go of the West River area.

Another storm system, this one from the Central Rockies of Utah and Colorado, will sweep into the Rapid City region Friday. The not-necessarily-welcome weekend guest will arrive around noon.

That's when the winter storm watch has an 80 percent chance of developing into an actual winter storm over most of western South Dakota, according to the National Weather Service.

Kyle Carstens, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Rapid City, said we can expect soupy lunchtime conditions, with rain quickly changing to snow, varying in intensity. The heaviest snow will fall will be later Friday night, lasting through early Saturday morning, Carstens said.

Then he predicted an outlook that outdoor sports enthusiasts will love and sidewalk shovelers and highway maintenance crews will loathe:

"If you like snow, this weekend should be great," Carstens said.

The heaviest snows will fall in the Black Hills, central South Dakota and maybe into the east side of the state. In the Northern Hills, heavy snow accumulations around 12 inches are expected in Lead/Deadwood; Rapid City could gain 6 to 10 inches; the Southern Hills around Custer could see 6 to 9 inches; northwest South Dakota, especially in Harding, Perkins and Ziebach counties, also 6 to 9 inches; and Pierre south toward Winner, 12 to 18 inches.

Take heart; the storm won't last long.

Sunshine should start breaking through cloud cover on Sunday. Temperatures will hover near 30-degree highs on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, and up to the 40s by Tuesday and Wednesday.

"We'll have a pretty good snowmelt going into next week," he said.