Eastern Newfoundland was pounded by a raging blizzard Friday that knocked out power for most of the island and forced much of the daily activity in the province to grind to a halt.

The storm, already considered the worst in at least several years with wind speeds topping 110 km/h in many areas, led to cancelled flights, closed schools, docked ferries and the shutdown of public services across the eastern half of Newfoundland.

The blizzard warning had ended by 1:17 a.m. NT, but a freezing drizzle warning was in place for Terra Nova as well as Gander and vicinity.

Newfoundland Power said on its website that isolated power issues would continue into Saturday morning. The utility urged everyone to have extra blankets on hand.

On Friday, power had been restored to much of the western, central and northern parts of the island by mid-afternoon.

Widespread outages started around 6:30 a.m., but worsened as the storm gathered force. Even areas such as western Newfoundland that were well outside the blizzard area lost power temporarily.

About 47 centimetres of snow had accumulated in St. John's by lunchtime Friday, although winds that often exceeded 110 km/h made for dangerous conditions.

"This is the worst I've seen in a long time," said Deanna Gabriel, as she shovelled snow outside her St. John's home. "I hear we may get more later, so I'm just trying to get a crack at some of it now," she said.

Parts of the Avalon Peninsula received anywhere from 25 to 55 centimetres of snow by the afternoon, with higher amounts likely in some areas, Environment Canada said.

It was the biggest snowfall in a single storm in seven years.

N.L. Hydro appealed for help from emergency personnel to transport stranded employees to fix problems at the Holyrood station.

A cab became stuck in heavy snow on Prince Philip Drive near Confederation Building in St. John's. (Adam Walsh/CBC)

"We certainly very much appreciate the concern that customers would have in not having power … but a high priority for us is ensuring the safety of our crews," said N.L. Hydro official Merissa King.

The power outages led to numerous complications, including in Grand Falls-Windsor, where the town council asked people to conserve water. The lack of power at the treatment centre was causing problems with water quality.

King said power restorations would be phased in, and warned consumers to expect some of them to be temporary while the system was being repaired.

Ferry crossings to N.S. cancelled

High winds have caused havoc with the power system, and have rendered many highways and roads unsafe for driving.

The storm tore roofing from a Dominion supermarket in St. John's, and prompted the Newfoundland and Labrador government to tie up ferries that served domestic routes in much of the island. Marine Atlantic also cancelled its crossings to Nova Scotia.

Environment Canada not only extended its blizzard warning for the eastern half of the island on Friday morning, but issued a new blowing snow warning for areas as far west as Gander, where schools are also closed for the day.

The storm was most harshly felt on the Avalon Peninsula, although its effects have been felt in southern and central Newfoundland as well.

St. John's International Airport shut down its runways until noon on Saturday. The airport authority recommended that passengers check with their carriers for updates.

The blizzard was expected to drop up to 70 centimetres of snow in parts of the Avalon Peninsula. The storm has been so bad that even emergency services personnel have been having difficulty doing their jobs.

Heavy drifting of snow caused an ambulance to become stuck on a street in St. John's on Friday morning. (Mark Quinn/CBC)

"I've kind of given up now," RCMP Sgt. Marc Couloumbe said Friday morning as he tried to leave his home on the Avalon Peninsula's Southern Shore, south of St. John's.

"Unfortunately, now the snowplow is stuck right in front of my driveway, so I can't even get out," said Couloumbe. As well, an ambulance became stuck in the centre of St. John's.

Massive cleanup in St. John's

Paul Mackey, the city's director of public works, said crews were making good headway late Friday afternoon.

"I think things are going a bit better now that it's changed over to some drizzle and the drifting has subsided," Mackey said.

"That's making our job a bit easier now, so we're making a lot better progress than we were earlier today and last night."

Driving conditions hazardous

Dale Foote, a meteorologist with Environment Canada's weather office, said the high winds and snow drifting were the hallmarks of the storm.

"To be honest, the wind is so high that I don't know how you'd get a sense of snowfalls," he said.

"If the winds pick up, it's going to be even harder to get a sense of actual measurements."

CBC reporter Zach Goudie said roads in the St. John's area were filled with drifts and blowing snow, and that early shovelling was moot.

"It doesn’t make much of a difference," said Goudie, adding that driving conditions are hazardous.

The RCMP said high winds caused a bus carrying employees from the Buchans mine heading towards Grand Falls-Windsor to flip onto its side. There were no serious injuries among the 15 passengers.

With files from CBC's Vik Adhopia and the Canadian Press