A fast moving storm system delivered a wintry mix of weather on this first full day of spring, and tri-staters grumbled Monday that it was not what they were hoping to see when they woke up.
"These days are symbolic, so you hope for this momentous, watershed kind of day that brings flowers blooming and sun, at least some sense that the season is changing," said Chris Sabatini, of Brooklyn, as he made his way to work in the pelting rain.
"I was hoping for the first day to be a sunny day," said 9-year-old Lauren Quick, on her way to school.
New York City and its nearby suburbs saw mostly rain Monday, with some wet snow mixing in at times.
Further north and west across Sussex, Warren, Passaic, Morris, and western Union and Essex counties in New Jersey as well as parts of the Hudson Valley and interior Connecticut, wet snow accumulated to a slushy couple of inches on grassy areas and colder surfaces.
Some roads in the higher elevations of these counties were briefly slushy. The rain and snow tapered off by the afternoon.
This weather complicated the morning commute in parts of the tri-state area, causing an accident on Route 287 in New Jersey, near exit 30.
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The weather picture clears Monday night into Tuesday, but that will be brief. Another storm could bring more rain and snow Wednesday into Thursday.
All this winter weather comes just after spring arrived Sunday night.
It felt like winter was gone after temps busted records on Friday.
It was 75 degrees at La Guardia and 79 at John F. Kennedy Airport.
Islip, N.Y. also saw a record-breaking 77 degrees.
Central Park warmed up to 76 degrees but missed a record by just one degree -- the record high of 77 degrees was set back in 1989.
