This is how January should be!

Skeptics in December may have had good reason to doubt predictions for a warmer-than-normal winter, but January has proved the experts right.

This month is on track to become Indianapolis' second-warmest January on record, forecasters say. And if history is any indicator, the coming months also will be warmer than normal.

Through Saturday, the month's average temperature was 39.9 degrees. If the forecast for today and Tuesday holds, this January would be Indianapolis' warmest since 1880, said Ed Terrell of the National Weather Service. The weather service began tracking data in 1871.

All hail global warming! Or, if you're smart, you recognize this warm month is well within the bounds of normal weather variations.

(The 1880 record is such an anomaly, and so long ago, that I question its accuracy.)