This Year, It's Winter That's in Hibernation

"Wait, what winter? It snowed, what, once or twice?" said Sheila White, who propped open the door of the dog and cat boutique in Alexandria where she works, the better to let in the mellow air and eager customers. "I don't think that's happening again. The daffodils are starting to poke out. Winter is done."

Perhaps. On the one hand, according to Guyer, the 10 warmest Januaries have been followed six times by notably warm Februaries. On the other, the weather service's Climate Prediction Center said there are signs that this February could be colder than normal.

Along Carroll Creek in Frederick, where new buildings are under construction as part of the downtown's redevelopment, men were working in shirt sleeves.

"Two days ago, it was frozen solid in here," said Dennis Martin, 53, of Hagerstown, Md. From a broader perspective, however, he said he did not know what to make of the changes and whether they were another sign of global climate change triggered by pollution from human activity.

"I saw a show the other day with scientists talking about global warming. That made it sound like that was affecting it this year. I don't know," Martin said. "I think it's going to have some kind of effect on the atmosphere."

But his co-worker Barry Verdier, 55, of Wolfsville disagreed.

"I think global warming is a bunch of bull," Verdier said, smoking a cigarette and placing surveyor's markers in the ground. "It's done this all my life."

Staff writers Fredrick Kunkle and Jamie Stockwell contributed to this report.