MONTPELIER, Vt. — Ski areas across northern New England are giddy at the prospect of a major Thanksgiving snowstorm.

The snow began to fall at Mount Snow in southern Vermont at midmorning Wednesday. Spokesman Dave Meeker calls it “awesome.”

The National Weather Service is forecasting a foot of snow and more across parts of the region before the storm ends Thursday morning.

At the other end of Vermont, the Jay Peak resort is giving its employees Thanksgiving off, but they’ll be ready to go Friday. And the snow boosted reservations for the weekend.

Over in Maine, the Sugarloaf and Sunday River are open and others are expected to open next month, said Greg Sweetser, executive director of the Ski Maine Association.

“Having this natural snow on the ground gets the Nordic skiers excited,” he said. “This will just spread the joy further south.”

Noelle Tuttle, spokeswoman for Sugarloaf, agreed that the snowfall will mean more business for the Carrabassett Valley resort.

“Every time we get a rumor that there’s a big snowstorm moving in, it generates a lot of excitement,” she said.