Even with a frosty flourish to ring out the year, 1998 was the warmest year in recorded history in the northeastern United States, according to the climatologists at the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University.

The new record -- an average temperature for the year of 49.8 degrees Fahrenheit -- beat the previous record set in 1953 by three-tenths of a degree, according to Keith Eggleston, a senior climatologist at the center.

"Much of the credit for the warm year goes to January and February. These two months combined to be the second warmest such period on record," says Eggleston. January averaged 7.8 degrees above normal (based on a 30-year average), making it the ninth warmest January on record. February had an average temperature departure of 8 degrees above normal, making it the warmest February on record. In all, 10 out of the 12 months were warmer than normal. May's average temperature was 4.6 degrees above normal, making it the sixth warmest May on record in the 12-state Northeast region. Only June and July were cooler than normal: June averaged 0.1 degrees below normal, and July dipped by 0.4 degrees.

"The warm weather for that January-February period can be attributed -- at least in part -- to El Ni–o. And El Ni–os are frequently associated with warm weather in the Northeast during the winter season. Warm weather persisted throughout most of the year. The warm weather during the first part of December assured the record," says Eggleston.

At year's end, December averaged 33.4 degrees, which was 5.9 degrees warmer than the normal of 27.5 degrees, making the month the fifth warmest December since records were first kept in 1895. The first 21 days of the month were exceptionally warm, with the region's temperatures averaging 38.6 degrees, or 11.1 degrees above normal. A frigid blast bounded into the Northeast for the month's final 10 days, with temperatures averaging about 4 to 5 degrees colder than normal.

The Northeast's warmest December was in 1923, when the average temperature was 35.5 degrees.

Will the warm weather continue this winter? No, says Eggleston, based on information from the Climate Prediction Center in Washington. He says the long-range forecasts call for cooler-than-normal temperatures for the region from February through to at least early spring.

The climate center's Northeast region comprises Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, West Virginia and Vermont. The center is funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.