Environment Canada has issued blizzard and storm surge warnings for a large portion of the island.

The warnings are in effect for the eastern half of the island and the south coast, going as far north as the Bay of Exploits and as far west as Connaigre. As well, the Port Aux Basques and Burgeo-Ramea areas are under a wind warning.

Environment Canada Meteorologist Wanda Batten says this storm will be significant with high snowfall accumulations expected, especially over the Avalon.

The storm will begin overnight tonight and is expected to drop between 40 and 60 cm, with the potential to bring upwards of 70 cm of snow to some areas. She says snowfall will be heavy, with accumulations of about 5 cm per hour.

The metro region will be flirting with an all-time record snowfall. The single-day record is the 68.4 cm on April 5, 1999. The region could get up to 70 cm tomorrow.

According to Batten, winds will also be a factor. She says we will see gusts of up to 110 km/h throughout the day Friday, intensifying to 130 km/h in the night, which combined with the snow will cause near zero visibility.

The storm is expected to move out to sea by lunchtime on Saturday.