Dust off your ice scraper and dig out your winter gloves.

After three weeks of above-average October high temperatures, overnight lows were expected to plummet over the next few days and give the Albany area its first frost and freeze of the season.

The weather service issued a frost advisory for 2 a.m. to 9 a.m Wednesday for Albany, Rensselaer, Greene and Columbia counties.

The low temperature on Wednesday morning is expected to be 33 to 36 degrees. On Thursday morning, it could be right at freezing, Brian Montgomery, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said.

Highs on Wednesday and Thursday are expected to be around 50 degrees and in the 40s on Friday, Montgomery said.

Until Monday, every day in October had had a high temperature above the average for the date, according to weather service data.

Though the frost and freeze are on their way, the Capital Region should remain snow-free for the foreseeable future. The same cannot be said for points west, however, as some bands of lake-effect snow were predicted for areas near Utica and Syracuse on Wednesday night, Montgomery said.

bfitzgerald@timesunion.com • 518-454-5414 • @BFitzgeraldTU