By Dori Modney with files from The Canadian Press

Groundhog round-up – Balzac Billie has good news

Feb 2, 2019 | 7:32 AM

LETHBRIDGE  — As with most years, groundhogs around north America have differing opinions on the length of winter.  However, for Southern Albertans, it’ good news.  Balzac Billie didn’t see his shadow this morning, meaning will should have an early spring. The bout of frigid temperatures forecast for the next five days should be short-lived.

According to the Canadian Press, Canada’s other two forecasting groundhogs had conflicting predictions.

The mayor of the Town of South Bruce Peninsula, which includes the community of Wiarton, announced Willie’s prediction on stage with Premier Doug Ford on Saturday morning.

Folklore has it that if a groundhog sees its shadow on Groundhog Day, it will retreat into its burrow, heralding six more weeks of cold weather. But spring-like temperatures are thought to be on the way if no shadow is seen. 

While Willie was backed up by the most famous American groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, Nova Scotia’s Shubenacadie Sam, saw his shadow, and retreated into hiding.

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Tabitha Cox, head nature interpreter at the wildlife park where Sam lives, said about 200 people came out to the park in frosty weather to watch the furry forecaster make his prediction.

“I heard some booing,” she said. “People love it or hate it with winter.”

The wildlife park has held Groundhog Day events for the past 30 or so years, and Cox says there’s a “Shubenacadie Sam family” of groundhogs that are used to make their forecasts.

The human weather experts say the odd ritual has a terrible record when it comes to predicting the weather.

In his book, “The Day Niagara Falls Ran Dry,” climatologist David Phillips cites a survey of 40 years of weather data from 13 Canadian cities, which concluded there was an equal number of cloudy and sunny days on Feb. 2 — and during that time, the groundhogs’ predictions were right only 37 per cent of the time.          

But Cox said that despite the hit-or-mostly-miss nature of these forecasts, it’s important to keep the tradition alive for Canadians who want to have some fun and blow off some mid-winter steam.

“I think it’s just because it’s something fun in the dead of winter,” she said. “(There’s) not much else going on, Christmas and New Year’s are well over, Easter’s still a long way away. It’s just a chance to have some fun.”

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