In 1956, Poland experienced a brief political and cultural thaw.

More important, despite last weekend's brief thaw, winter has given Lillehammer - the most northern site yet for a winter Olympiad - a good head start.

Following a brief thaw in 1973 and early 1974, during which the cardinal was permitted to return from exile, relations between church and state continued to deteriorate.

For the most part, the cars that usually cruise its frozen surface on brisk winter days stayed on land instead, their drivers cautious after a brief thaw.

The arrangement began in 1977 during a brief thaw in relations between the Castro Government and the Carter Administration.

And since a brief thaw over the weekend, temperatures have dropped 25 to 30 degrees.

After the brief thaw the temperature plummeted again, and all the slush froze hard, keeping everyone close to the castle.

He dug down half a foot to the surface of a wet snow that had fallen more than a week earlier and had survived a few brief thaws.

There was a brief thaw two days later, and Jamie-suffering slightly from cabin fever himself-decided to take advantage of it to go hunting.

The first brief thaw made mush out of the snow on the drill fields; the ground below was still frozen.