Nation IN BRIEF : NATIONWIDE : Winter Is Warmest Recorded Since 1895

This winter has been the nation’s warmest since records were first kept in 1895, the National Climatic Data Center reported in Asheville, N.C. The meteorological season’s average temperature for the 48 contiguous states was 36.87 degrees, said Richard Heim of the data center. But he said measurements from one winter did not offer proof of global warming. It could be, he said, a fluctuation, as happened in the 1950s and the 1930s. This winter’s temperature tops the previous record set in 1953-54, when the nation averaged 36 degrees.