Southwestern Saskatchewan appears primed to just miss out on what's being called a historic winter storm.

The Colorado low is expected to invade southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba overnight with the brunt of it battering the southeast part of the province and southern Manitoba.

Environment and Climate Change Canada has been tracking the system for a few days now as it moves north through the United States. They began with by issuing special weather statements on the weekend and progressed those to winter storm watches yesterday. The notices advanced another peg today to winter storm and blizzard warnings.

"Areas neighbouring the communities where warnings are currently in effect will also be effected by this storm," Natalie Hasell, a meteorologist for Environment and Climate Change Canada, said. "Not expecting to see warning criteria being met so snow amounts not as large, visabilities perhaps reduced less or for less long but conditions will likley be difficult in those neighbouring areas as well."

Southeastern Saskatchewan could see anywhere from 30-50 centimetres while parts of Manitoba could see up to 80 centimetres of white fluffy stuff. The southwest is projected to receive around 10-20 centimetres of snow by Saturday with 2-4 coming tonight.

Strong winds will accompany the heavy snow ranging from 70-90 km/hr. In the southwest the wind should be more tame at around 30-50 km/hr.

"Avoid travel," Hasell warned. "Have an emergency kit both for your home and for your car. Be prepared for delays if you do have to travel and be prepared for power outages as well."

Swift Current will experieince cooler than average temperatures until at least Easter Monday as a result of the storm and could be hit with snowfall until Friday night in a couple different waves.