LAKE CLEAR — For the first time in more than a month, temperatures at the Adirondack Regional Airport cracked above freezing.

Monday’s high temperature at the airport — where official National Weather Service temperatures are recorded for Saranac Lake — crested at 38 degrees Fahrenheit. The last time temperatures there reached above freezing was on Jan. 15, which notched a high of 34 degrees.

The 31-day streak of constant below-freezing temperatures is the longest stretch since 2015. That year had a 38-day block of below-freezing temperatures, lasting from Jan. 30 through March 8.

On Friday, NWS Burlington declared that Lake Champlain was fully frozen over for the first time since 2019. Meteorologists determined this using a combination of aerial and satellite imagery.

Temperatures today are expected to reach above freezing for the Tri-Lakes once again. After that, highs are predicted to return to around freezing or a few degrees below it for the rest of the week. The average high temperature for Saranac Lake this time of year is 28 degrees, and the average low is 3.

Meteorologists had tracked this modest thaw for the last week or so, as computer forecast models signaled a broad pattern shift in the jet stream. This cut off the bitterly cold Arctic air masses that had been frequently striking the eastern U.S. throughout much of January and early February.