(photo stolen from Max, who was crazy enough to go outside)It's official: The first 15 days this year were the coldest in recorded history in Birmingham. The average temperature was only 29.7 F (-1.4 C). Brrr!!
That may not be too cold to people from more Arctic climates (including Prague, average January temperature only 23 F/-5 C), but it's certainly colder than normal in Alabama!
Usually we hike a lot in the winter, because the vegetation is dead and the snakes are hibernating. This month, though, we've just stayed inside. Well, that and walked on ice-covered ponds--an unusual sight for this part of the world!
The power company is telling everyone to expect bills double and triple the normal amount for this month. I'm scared to see what mine will be, but I'm grateful for the availability of heat--even though I did have to turn on the back-up gas heaters and space heaters to stay warm!
It's finally warmed up a bit now, and 40 and 50 degree temperatures (4 and 10 C) are feeling wonderful! Now to get my hat and gloves out again for my trip to Prague in a few more days....
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I couldn't get over how bitterly cold it was here for several days too. There's a lake by my office building... maybe 12-14 acres... and it froze all the way across. Don't know how thick it was, but there were still large patches of ice this past Friday, so it must have been pretty thick as well. Weird.