People in some parts of Newfoundland were seeing the first real taste of winter weather Friday.

Heavy snowfall was whipping through the central and western areas of the province.

Devon Telford, a meteorologist with the Gander Weather Office, said between 15 and 25 centimetres of snow can be expected in those areas.

The Avalon Peninsula will see some snow fall, but Telford said it will quickly change to rain.

"[The Avalon is] expecting about 10 centimetres," Telford said, "but temperatures are expected to warm up by later this afternoon, so it'll be fairly heavy snow going to drizzle late in the afternoon."

Some schools on the southwest coast closed early because of high winds and heavy snowfall.

Air Canada cancelled a handful of flights that were to arrive and depart St. John's because of similar weather in Halifax.