NEW YORK CITY — Spring has sprung — but you wouldn't know it from the blanket of snow beneath your feet.
An expected 12 hours of snowfall began hitting the city on Friday, in a cold welcome to the start of spring, according to meteorologists from the National Weather Service.
"[We're expecting] 2 to 3 inches of snow by 8 p.m.," Tim Morrin of the NWS said. "[Snow should] continue thereafter and taper off right around or just before midnight."
The snow sparked travel delays at area airports, with average delays of more than one hour at JFK and La Guardia, according to the FAA.
More than 200 inbound and outbound flights were canceled at La Guardia and more than 100 flights were canceled at JFK, according to the Port Authority.
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The snowfall was expected to get heavier as the day wore on, leading to a messy evening commute, officials said.
Some New Yorkers bemoaned the falling snow Friday.
"I couldn't get a cab," Ned Davis, 70, a frustrated hedge fund manager in Midtown said. "I had to take three buses [to get here]."
Luckily for Davis, on Saturday he'll be fleeing the cold for the sunshine state of Florida.
"I hope the planes will be on time," he said.
An state auditor paying a visit to a Midtown apartment building said as long as he's indoors, the snow's not the end of the world.
"[But] I'm sick of it if I'm outside," Bis Chowdhury, 27, said.
On the optimistic side of the spectrum, Midwestern transplants reminded New Yorkers that it's way worse out west.
"There it's sh***y all the time," said Russell Ashton, 25 a chef in midtown, who hails from Ohio but now lives in Astoria. "[Here the snow] doesn't stop us from coming out."
