Three Village Thaws with Mild Monday Temperatures

The last time Tom Dundon of Stony Brook took his daugther Madeline to , it was to collect leaves in the fall.

Freezing temperatures and snow kept them away this winter, but that all changed Monday. Madeline, 3, recounted Monday's adventures as the warmer weather and some welcome sunshine made some outdoor fun possible.

"I went stomping in mud puddles," she said, holding up a stick almost as tall as she was – her hiking stick, she called it. "Me and my cousins do this all the time," she added.

"It's nice to be outside," her father said. "Between here, West Meadow Beach and Avalon Park, [we're here] three or four times a week when it's nice."

Their sentiments were echoed by many Three Villagers.

"It feels wonderful, especially after this winter we've been having," said Greta Holm, a 44-year resident of Stony Brook. "I can't wait for spring."

Mounds of snow still linger around Ted Sargent's home in Stony Brook. The first snowfall was nice, he said, but the rest was just unnecessary.

"This is fantastic," Sargent said of Monday's thaw. "Friday is supposed to be even nicer."

Local weather reports pegged temperatures in the mid 40s Monday, with still warmer predictions for later this week: up to the 50s or even 60s by Thursday and Friday. Just this past weekend, geese and ducks at had little room to swim at the mostly frozen pond, but the ice appeared a little thinner on Monday.

Setauket resident Lisa Smoot said the springlike weather felt lovely after what she called a ridiculous winter.

"I like the snow when it's pretty, but two days later when it's dirty and piled up everywhere, it's awful," she said.