A blast of old man winter will get the weekend off to a messy start for parts of eastern Newfoundland.

Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for St. John’s and a winter storm warning is out for the southeastern Avalon.

Meteorologist Wanda Batten says the metro area will see the bulk of the snowfall with 10 to 20 cm possible once the system moves in over the lunch hour Friday.

Batten says it’ll be a nasty afternoon and evening with heavy snowfall and strong winds gusting to 80 km/h along the coast. Lesser amounts are expected for western Avalon, but blowing snow will be a problem due to blustery winds.