Blizzard warnings end, winds taper off across Newfoundland

Strong winds and blizzard conditions are winding down across much of Newfoundlandafter lashing much of the island throughout the morning, causing power outages and disrupting Marine Atlantic ferries for a fourth day.

Blizzard warnings were over for all of western Newfoundland by 1 p.m., and wind gusts of up to 100 km/h had tapered offin eastern Newfoundland by early afternoon.

The province's transportation department was advising drivers to stay off roads in most of western Newfoundland throughout the morning due to the conditions, but conditions had improved by the afternoon.

The winds, which started Christmas Day, have been damaging buildings and blowing vehicles offthe roads in parts of the province since Tuesday night.

Wind and blizzard warnings had also been in place for the Northern Peninsula, including Gros Morne National Park, but Environment Canada ended them just after 5 a.m. Thursday.

Ferry cancellations

Marine Atlantic cancelled both Thursday morning crossings across the Cabot Strait due to the stormy weather, but both 11:45 p.m. crossings were still on schedule as of Thursday afternoon.

No ferries have sailed between North Sydney and Port aux Basques since Christmas Eve, as high winds have persisted in the region for much of the last week.

Marine Atlantic spokesperson Darrell Mercer said both passenger and commercial traffic is starting to buildfor the scheduled night crossings, with 433 passengers booked to leave from Port aux Basques and 441 from North Sydney as of 9 a.m.

In terms of commercial traffic, there were 140 units booked from North Sydney but only 21 from Port aux Basques as many couldn't even reach the ferry terminal due to high winds in the Wreckhousearea.

"We're expecting to see that influx of traffic as we head through today and into tonight. We're hopeful we are going to sail at 23:45 out of both ports," Mercer said. "It's certainly been a challenging stretch through December."

The Bell Island ferries werestormbound earlier in the morning, but shortly after 8 a.m. it was announced that a crossing will be attempted at 9 a.m.

All arriving and departing flights at St. John's and Deer Lake airports were still on schedule Thursday morning, and only a few at Goose Bay Airport were affected.

Eastern Newfoundland

Though wind warnings ended Thursday morning for much of central Newfoundland, Burin and the northern Avalon Peninsula, the southernAvalon was still affected by snow squalls andstrong wind gusts of up to 100 km/h, which are expected to taper off later in the day.

Newfoundland Power was reporting outages in the Summerford,Twillingate South and Ragged Point regionsin central due to overhead line damage.

Labrador

In Labrador, Environment Canada has winter stormwarnings in place for the Hopedale, Postville and Makkovik regions, and a blowing snow advisory was in effect for the Nain area.

Special weather statements were in effect for for the rest of the Labrador coast, from Rigolet in the north to Lodge Bay in the south.