Newfoundland wakes up to buckets of snow, continued winter storm warning

N.L. braving Christmas Eve snowstorm Newfoundland and Labrador can expect to see up to 30 cm of snow ahead of Christmas day. NTV's Ben Cleary has the details.

TORONTO — Someone on the east coast may have wished for a white Christmas a little too hard this year, judging by the blanket of snow that has settled on Newfoundland and Labrador.

The eastern edge of Newfoundland is still mostly covered by a winter storm warning, according to Environment Canada.

Roughly 30 cm of powder fell on Dec. 24, followed by 10 more overnight, ensuring that those on the coast of Newfoundland woke up to a very wintery wonderland.

The snowy weather has been rough enough this week to grind activity at St. John’s International Airport to nearly a halt: only two flights landed there the morning of Christmas Eve. Some travelers have been stranded, unable to get in or out of the area.

Those in Newfoundland are hunkered down, waiting it out. Anyone thinking of heading outside for a snowball fight might want to wait: strong winds gusting between 80 and 100 km per hour

A snow plow driver told NTV on Dec. 24 that the seemingly-Herculean task of clearing away the snow isn’t that difficult, due to its consistency.

“It’s powdery stuff,” he said. “Nice and light. I don’t mind it at all.”

The few regions along Newfoundland’s coast that are not currently under a winter storm warning have a blowing snow advisory in affect, cautioning that scattered flurries tonight will re-intensify back into snow around noon on Boxing Day.

By the end of the week, the east coast of Newfoundland could also be seeing enormous waves menacing the shoreline, according to a special weather statement by Environment Canada.

The waves could reach up to 9 metres in height as a result of a prolonged period of strong winds brought on by the winter storm.

Thursday and Friday are expected to be the peak of the unruly water activity, and the weather agency is warning that there may be some flooding, especially around high tide.