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Children make their way up a hill during a snow storm in Ottawa.Dave Chan/The Globe and Mail

A winter storm that blasted much of Eastern Canada moved into Newfoundland on Friday.

Environment Canada said the northeast coast and central parts of the island would see the highest accumulation of snow – anywhere between 15 and 25 centimetres.

The forecast also called for wind gusts of up to 100 kilometres an hour along the province's south coast.

The weather prompted Air Canada to advise travellers to expect delays and cancellations of flights to or from St. John's International Airport.

That also forced a handful of flight delays at other airports in the region including Halifax Stanfield International Airport.

High winds and rough seas in the Cabot Strait also forced Marine Atlantic to tie up its vessels. No daytime crossings to Nova Scotia were scheduled, although the ferry service was expected to resume with late sailings on Friday.

Meanwhile, rain and some freezing rain was forecast for areas of New Brunswick that were hit with up to 20 centimetres of snow on Thursday.

The region was expected to get a brief respite on Saturday before another storm was expected to push through on Sunday.

Environment Canada meteorologist Linda Libby said forecasters had their eye on a low pressure system building off the eastern coast of the U.S.

"It's going to be a large scale and significant storm," said Ms. Libby.

She said early indications pointed to strong winds and snow for most of mainland Nova Scotia. The storm would also affect eastern portions of New Brunswick as well as Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Libby said the system could bring anywhere from 15 to 25 centimetres of wet, heavy snow depending upon the temperatures.

"If the track adjusts a little bit further to the north then warmer air could come in and we could see at least a portion of the precipitation changing to rain," she said.

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