Bundle backup southwestern Saskatchewan, a strong blast of wintery weather is closing in on the region.

Tonight's Spring Equinox, at 9:06 p.m., will be overshadowed by a snowstorm that could bring upwards of 20 centimetres to parts of the region by the end of Thursday.

Swift Current could receive around five to 10 centimetres of snow but further to the west, especially around Cypress Hills, that figure could easily double.

Brian Proctor, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, said the cold and snowy weather is thanks to the Jet Stream finally shifting southward

"We're seeing some cold air that's been dammed in the Northwest Territories beginning to slide further to the south and that's allowing a storm track to settle in across the southern prairies," he said.

Cypress Hills and Leader could see snowflakes start falling around midnight with the storm reaching Swift Current by around 2 a.m. Wednesday.

"It's going to be fairly intermittent to start with at this point but it will pick up in intensity on the day Wednesday," he said. 

The system is expected to taper off on Thursday afternoon with potentially a few light flurries sticking around overnight.

"It's always a bit of a shock to us when we see these really sudden changes in driving conditions," he said. "It's really incumbent upon us to drive to the conditions that are out there. If you don't have to be out and about when the snow is most intense, it's not a bad idea to sit it out if you can."