SARANAC LAKE — The freeze, thaw, freeze cycle continues in the Tri-Lakes region, with a return to cold for the second half of the week and through the weekend.

While balmy temperatures and rain eroded much of the snowpack the last couple of days, Mother Nature will once again flip the script. A cold front pushed through the region Tuesday before slowing down and turning into a stationary front over New England.

Even though the Tri-Lakes are on the northern, or “cold” side of the front today, its subsequent stall while remaining in relatively close proximity to the region has prevented any serious cold air from moving in so far. Temperatures are expected to remain above average today, with highs in the mid-30s, according to the National Weather Service’s Burlington, Vermont office, which serves the Tri-Lakes region.

The next storm moves in this afternoon, with temperatures expected to be just cool enough across the region at the onset of precipitation to support an exclusively snow — as opposed to rain or sleet — event, according to Meteorologist Seth Kutikoff, who works at the NWS’s Burlington office.

He said a general 2 to 4 inches of snow is expected by Thursday morning across the Tri-Lakes region.

“On the north side of the front, where we’re located in northern New York, we’ll see just a quick shoot of light snow come through during the afternoon and early evening hours,” he said.

That snow is expected to break out from west to east between 2 and 3 p.m. this afternoon, according to Kutikoff. It is forecasted to fall throughout the evening and overnight, before tapering to scattered snow showers Thursday morning, which will likely continue on and off throughout most of the day.

Even though today’s storm is not expected to break any snowfall records, Kutikoff still cautioned travelers on the evening commute, as the roads could be slick.

“We’re looking at the storm’s heaviest snowfall rates — about half an inch per hour — (occurring) between 5 and 7 p.m.,” he said. “It will be heavy enough to cause some accumulations on roadways during the evening commute.”

Besides the snow, today’s storm will impact temperatures by helping to advance the aforementioned stalled frontal boundary further away from the Tri-Lakes, allowing colder, below-average, temperatures to move into the region.

Between today and Sunday, each day’s high and low temperatures look colder than the last. Temperatures bottom out on Sunday with highs not predicted to make it out of the single digits across the Tri-Lakes region, with low temperatures Saturday and Sunday nights supposed to dip below zero.

The cold, however, is not expected to stick around for long, according to Kutikoff. Temperatures are forecasted to begin warming again on Monday closer to what is typical for the Tri-Lakes for this time of the year.

“We’re pretty confident that the core of this unseasonably cold air will be brief,” he said. “Once we move into early next week, it will already be more seasonable, as opposed to below-average temperatures.”

While it’s too early to accurately tell, early indications show a quiet period of weather early next week.