e for ski resorts,toms shoes coupon, retail stores and hotels. Cross-country skiing and snowmobiling also suffered. In the end, the December-to-February period was the fourth-warmest in the continental U.S., and was one of the three warmest on record from Washington, D.C., to Caribou, Maine, said Jessica Rennells, of the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. This week,http://148.202.167.133/capacitacion/?q=node/2183594, the warmth reached epic proportions. In Bangor in central Maine, the temperature surged to 83 degrees on Wednesday, smashing the old record of 64. In neighboring New Hampshire, the capital, Concord, enjoyed a summerlike spell the likes of which has never been seen in 144 years of record-keeping. "There's only five days in March where the record was 80 or higher in Concord. And we're going to do that five times in a row this week. That's unprecedented,http://www.lunachina.net/home/space.php?uid=30326&do=blog&id=317870,toms shoes discount," said John Cannon of the National Weather Service. In Seattle, Larry Waldman said he'd been skiing at Smuggler's Notch in Vermont since he was 6 years old,http://www.biansi.net/bbs/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=17780. He had already bought his plane tickets for a time-share next week and acknowledged it would be too expensive to cancel. "It is what it is. There's nothing you can do about the weather. You just roll with it," he said. "It's just a pain in the butt." Skiers have to be wary because of the changing conditions. "The biggest challenge is there's a lot of dirt and exposed rocks. You have to pick your way down the mountain and avoid the obstacles," Kevin Gray of Eliot, Maine, said after skiing a few runs at Sunday River. To the west, some resorts are in better shape,toms outlet, thanks to some late-season snowfall in Utah and California's Sierra Nevada, allowing them to stay open longer. In the Northeast, larger resorts like Maine's Sunday River and Sugarloaf and Vermont's Killington usually stay open well into April, and sometimes even May. And they remain optimistic that they can hold out for several more weeks, pointing to a cooler forecast this weekend that gives a glimmer of hope that the little snow that's left won't melt. "I don't know that any one of us have seen a week of 70- to 80-degree heat in March, but I wouldn't say it's a killer," said Sugarloaf spokesman Ethan Austin. "We're definitely not packing it in yet." On Wednesday, 15-year-old Sydney Warren said she was grateful that she and her friend, Allie Ward, brought swimsuits for their weeklong ski vacation, thinking they'd be used for the resort's swimming pool. But she needed some sunscreen, as well. "I didn't think I'd be in a swimsuit out here. But I'm glad I can be," she said, sporting a sunburn on her face and shoulders. "I'm burned to a crisp." Your comment will be posted immediately, unless it is spam or contains profanity. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ. An insider's guide to politics and policy, available on the iPad or as a PDF download.
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) Congress will help pay for your roads, but your state can't lower its drinking age below 21. There's federal money for colleges, but they can't discr