NEW YORK (PIX11) — Snow and rain fell across the New York and New Jersey area overnight Monday into Tuesday, as the first wave of a potentially potent nor’easter made a mess ahead of the morning commute.

In New Jersey, relative warmth made for a wet, heavy snow as flakes alternated with rain overnight. In some spots, a few inches of snow had accumulated by Tuesday morning, though other locations were hit harder by rain. A more universal concern throughout the state was strong wind, with gusts exceeding 50 miles per hour.

Five counties in the Garden State were under a state of emergency as of early Tuesday, due in larger part to the ability to allocate resources than the strength of the storm. State offices were opening Tuesday on a two-hour delay, and a ban on some commercial trucks was in effect near I-80 to allow the Department of Transportation to stay ahead of the storm.

Meanwhile, in New York, roads north and west of the five boroughs were slicked with rain. What powder had begun to stick as of early Tuesday, however, was wet and heavy from alternating snow and rain, setting up a potential burden to overhead power lines.

“Heavy, dense snow means one thing: It’s going to take down the wires,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a briefing ahead of the storm. “When you have snow that’s 50% heavier than normal, this is not the light, fluffy, pretty Christmas snow. This is going to come down like a brick.”

By early Tuesday, hundreds of customers were without power in the area, with New York City’s suburbs the hardest hit. Some 180 customers were in the dark in Westchester County, a cumulative 139 were out between Long Island’s Nassau and Suffolk counties, and 91 were without service between Rockland and Orange counties.

As in New Jersey, a state of emergency had been issued for a number of counties in New York, including Dutchess, Putnam, and Ulster, with the storm expected to intensify and linger into Wednesday.