After pounding the Miswest and South and putting a big cramp in holiday travel, the winter storm streaking across the U.S. hit the Northeast on Thursday. Heavy snow fell through the night and early morning across New York State and Vermont in the first major winter storm this season for the region.

The North Country, including parts of the St. Lawrence and Champlain valleys, and the Adirondacks, are expected to see the heaviest snow.

New York Gov. Andrew Governor Cuomo activated the state's Emergency Operations Center last night to monitor the storm's impact. 

The National Weather Service has estimated that as much as a foot may have fallen overnight. Visibility is limited, and "severe" snow and ice conditions are reported on many roads and highways.

National Weather Service spokesman David Roth said the Northeast’s heaviest snowfall would be in northern Pennsylvania, upstate New York and inland sections of several New England states before the storm ended Friday morning and headed to Canada.

The East Coast’s largest cities — New York, Philadelphia and Boston — were seeing mostly high winds and rain Thursday morning. Other areas were getting a messy mix of rain and snow or just rain — enough to slow down commuters and those still heading home from visits with family.

Because flight delays are weather-related, you don't have much of a recourse if you miss your flight, or your flight is cancelled. Still, you do have some options.

Here are a few of your best bets if this winter storm is cramping your travel plans, as suggested by the AP's travel writer, Scott Mayerowitz:

— If you miss your connection, the airlines will automatically rebook you on the next available flight. However, with flights at near capacity, the next open seat could be several days away. Two years ago, some Christmas fliers had to wait nearly a week to get home.

— If you're unhappy with your rebooked flight, get in line to speak to a customer service representative. But also, pick up the phone and call the airline directly, go onto the airline's website and even consider sending a Tweet.

— Consider buying a one-day pass to the airline lounge. It's a nice place to relax away from the crowd and there are usually free drinks and small snacks. But the real secret to the lounges is that the airline staffs them with some of its best — and friendliest — ticket agents. The lines inside will be much shorter and these agents are magically able to find empty seats where nobody else can. One-day passes typically cost $50.

Check here to see if your flight is delayed or cancelled.

The winter storm stretching from North to South has caused major travel delays from Texas to Illinois. 

As of 10 a.m. EST, the airports suffering the most cancellations so far on Wednesday are: Indianapolis (a combined 122 arrivals and departures canceled); Dallas/Fort Worth (117) and Chicago O'Hare (66). New York's Laguardia and the Washington, D.C., airports were also seeing increased delays.

In Dallas air traffic destined to DFW was being delayed at its departure point by 2 or 3 hours.

The scope of the cancellations was widening, now affecting airports from New York to Georgia to Texas. Among the other airports with a notable tally of cancellations today are: Washington Dulles (47); Cleveland (45); New York LaGuardia (45); Columbus, Ohio (38); Charlotte (33); Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky (29); Washington National (29); New York JFK (28); Philadelphia (27); Newark Liberty (26); Dayton (25); Pittsburgh (23); Akron-Canton (20) and Atlanta (20).