Set your expectations for spring: Gray, windy and with pounding hail.

At least that's what Coeur d'Alene experienced on the first day of the season on Wednesday, which offered sporadic downpours, 43 mph winds and a brief but furious hailstorm.

By 4 p.m., the city had 0.87 inches of precipitation.

"That makes this the wettest (first) day of spring on record," said Coeur d'Alene Climatologist Cliff Harris, noting the previous record of .58 inches, set in spring 2002.

March's total precipitation is 1.9 inches, nearly the monthly normal of 1.94.

But that's nothing compared to the record-blasting March Coeur d'Alene saw last year, Harris said, when constant storms pelted down 7.51 inches for the month.

"Last year was sopping wet," he said.

Our rain gear shouldn't get that much use this spring, he said.

But there will still likely be more rain this season, Harris said. And likely more snow, too.

"We'll have some showers, but then the sun will come out, and then we'll have more showers," Harris said. "It will be back and forth."

Booming thunderstorms like Wednesday's are rare, he said.

"This was the noisiest start to spring since at least 1895," he said.