It won’t feel like it today when our afternoon high nears 70 F degrees, but the first half of January was the coldest on record.

The average temperature from Jan. 1-15 was just 29.7 degrees in the Birmingham area, according to the National Weather Service.

All four of the weather service’s climate sites set a new low record. Those sites are in Birmingham, Montgomery, Anniston and Tuscaloosa.

The previous coldest first half of January in Birmingham occurred in 1918. The average temperature then was at 32 F.

Montgomery’s new record of 32.4 F broke the 1970 record of 34.2.

The average temperature in Birmingham and Montgomery from Jan. 1-15 is 42.4 and 46.3 F, respectively.

Even with warmer temperatures this week, NWS meteorologists say January 2010 will still go down as one of the coldest in history.