What Winter?

I live in the South, by the Gulf of Mexico. It's normally pretty warm around here year-round, relatively. Take, for instance, right now. I think the normals for this time of the year are high 60F, low 40F. Not bad considering this is the time for snow in much of the country. But we are having some record highs lately. Temps flirting with 80! I know, I know, some people would give their eye-teeth for such pleasant temperatures. However, 2 to 2.5 weeks ago we were having record lows--I think it went all the way down to 24F, with highs only in the mid-40s. I'm so glad I'm escaping this erratic weather pattern and going to the other side of the world in a few days.