Tri-State Area Gets Another Blast Of Winter On 1st Day Of Spring
UPDATED 03/21/15 12:09 a.m.
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Snow fell across the Tri-State Area all day Friday, causing travel delays and leaving people fit to be tied on the first day of spring.
A winter weather advisory was in effect all the way up until until 2 a.m Saturday for New York City, Long Island, the lower Hudson Valley and for parts of New Jersey and Connecticut.
CHECK: Forecast | School Closings & Delays | Airport Delays | #Social Snow Patrol: Spring Snowfall
Late Friday night, the storm was working its way out to sea. But some areas got snow totals befitting of late January.
CBS2's Lonnie Quinn reported the highest total seen was 7 inches in Rocky Point on Long Island. Weston, Connecticut got 6.5 inches; Plainfield, New Jersey 5.2 inches; Rivervale, New Jersey 4.6 inches; and Central Park 3.2 inches.
As TV 10/55's Richard Rose reported, drivers plowed through the slush in Long Island's Suffolk County after spending hours on highways in the blinding snow.
John Sung of Setauket had to pull over when his windshield wiper stopped working.
In New Jersey, forecasters say 4 to 6 inches are also possible in Sussex, Morris and Warren counties. Central New Jersey faces 3 to 5 inches.
Brine Solution on roads set to knock back the first inch of snow. pic.twitter.com/Uz3h4i4pja
— Lou Young (@LouYoungNY) March 20, 2015
CBS2's Vanessa Murdock was in Ft. Lee Friday evening where she saw about an inch of snow around 5:30 p.m.
Most roads were wet and slushy during the day. Heavier snow will likely reduce visibility Friday afternoon into evening.
Many schools around the Tri-State area had early dismissal because of the snow.
Starting to stick in Westfield, NJ. #SpringSnow pic.twitter.com/tT8mjd36z6
— Vanessa Murdock (@VMurdockTV) March 20, 2015
Murdock asked some residents if they are excited about snow or if they've had enough. The general consensus was that they wish it looked more like Spring.
"I think it's not spring yet. I think they lied to us," one man told Murdock.
"I'm kind of over it by now," another woman said.
Yonkers resident Tracey Beavers told CBS2's Weijia Jiang that she was sick of schlepping around in messy conditions.
"I'm walking in snow, and I have my snow shoes on from early this morning," Beavers said.
Drivers still needed tools to brush off covered cars.
"I thought we saw the last of it in February. I'm done with this weather. I can't take another day of it," Hem Prasad said.
Weather caused delays at area airports. Arrivals at Newark Liberty International Airport were delayed up to 4 hours at one point. Click here to check current status.
DSNY has 500 spreaders, 1000 plows for today's 'spring' snowfall. Trash/recycling pickups underway. Drive carefully. pic.twitter.com/awec5Du3J0
— NYC Sanitation (@NYCSanitation) March 20, 2015
CBS2's Alice Gainer spoke with some commuters who were anxious to get home in the snowy weather. Thankfully, the weather hadn't caused any delays at the LIRR Jamaica station.
"So far it's been running good," Queens resident Ronson Dadwah said.
The New York City Department of Sanitation also issued a snow alert for Friday, meaning crews, salt spreaders and plows are ready for any snow that falls in the city.
Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia said the city is on the verge of having a record-breaking year for salt use.
"We have used a tremendous amount of salt," she told 1010 WINS. "I think it will be a record-setting year just due to the fact that, as of today, we've had 25 storm events."
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