Grey skies, rain and high winds marked the weather across Vancouver Island and southwest B.C. Friday. (CBC)

Environment Canada is warning the first big storm of the fall season is already bearing down on the West Coast, bringing with it high winds and heavy rain.

As of noon Friday, the intense system was moving across the north coast and was forecast to slowly move southward and stall over the north part of Vancouver Island overnight.

Forecasters are predicting between 100 and 200 millimetres of rainfall for central and northern coastal regions, along with southeast winds with speeds ranging from 70 to 120 kilometres per hour from central Vancouver Island northward.

A 40-kilometre section of Highway 16 from Port Clements to Massett on Haida Gwaii has already been closed as the powerful windstorm rakes the north coast islands.

Wind warnings are also posted for the Sunshine Coast and eastern Vancouver Island for Friday afternoon, while gusts topping 100 kilometres an hour were already buffeting western Vancouver Island.

Winds are forecast to die down over the central and north coasts Friday evening and over regions adjacent to central and northern Vancouver Island late Saturday morning. The heavy rain will gradually ease over the central coast and the northern part of Vancouver Island Saturday evening.

The weekend rain will add to an already unusually wet September, according to Environment Canada meteorologist David Jones.

"We are in the top-10 territory here — at least the top 10 — for September 2010," said Jones. "And by the time the month is done, we might be a top five for wetness."

In September 2004, the Lower Mainland got a record-setting 169 mm of rain. So far in September 2010, there has been just over 129 mm with another 15 to 30 mm forecast this weekend.