A winter storm is expected to dump a foot or more of snow in much of Maine on Thursday.

The National Weather Service on Tuesday upgraded its storm watch to a storm warning beginning around 10 p.m. Wednesday and ending around 4 a.m. Friday.

Snow will fall all day Thursday, with heavy snow during some parts of the day.

“We’re expecting around a foot for most of interior Maine and New Hampshire,” NWS meteorologists Margaret Curtis said late Tuesday.

Rain could blend with snow along coastal Maine, Curtis said, “but everywhere else it’ll be snow, snow, snow,” Curtis said. “It’s exciting the skier in me.”

Winds are expected to gust to 20 mph. The storm system working its way to the Northeast has been creating havoc in other parts of the country, including tornadoes in Alabama, she said.

By the time most Mainers make their way out the door Friday morning, the storm will be over. “Hopefully, the plows have gotten it out of our way,” Curtis said.