While the East Coast continues to dig out from a weekend winter storm and parts of Ontario enjoy a winter heat wave, the question on everyone's mind is: What do the groundhogs say?
Groundhogs agree, an early spring it shall be3:42
Furry forecasters across North America will wipe the hibernation sleep from their eyes today and "predict" the outlook for the rest of the season. Legend has it that if the groundhog sees its shadow, we can expect six more weeks of winter. If not, an early spring is on the way.
Punxsutawney Phil, in Pennsylvania, may be the best known groundhog forecaster, but Canada also has some celebrity rodent meteorologists: Shubenacadie Sam, in Nova Scotia; Wiarton Willie, in Ontario; and Balzac Billy in Alberta.
Sadly, we lost one wily weather forecaster just days before this year's Groundhog Day.
Winnipeg Willow died Friday night, according to the Prairie Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, which has decided to cancel its Feb. 2 event this year.
Here are 5 things to know about Groundhog Day:
Rodent reliability highly suspect
Like some human weather forecasters, groundhogs don't have a great track record for accuracy. A Canadian study looked at Groundhog Day predictions from the past 30 years and found that they were right only about 37 per cent of the time.
Looking for love
When groundhogs peek their heads out on Feb. 2, it may have nothing to do with the weather and everything to do with looking for love.
"At this time of year, males emerge from their burrows to start searching for the females," Stam Zervanos, a biology professor at Penn State Berks, in Reading, Pa., told the National Geographic in an interview last year.
"The females come out probably seven days later and stay just outside of their burrow or maybe just inside their burrow." he said.
Medieval origins in Europe
Groundhog Day is not a North American invention.
It's believed the holiday originated in medieval Europe, rooted in the Christian festival of Candlemas, and that hedgehogs were the soothsaying rodent of choice.
Wiarton Willie dynasty
The original Willie, an albino groundhog, was in action for 22 years, and died just two days before Groundhog Day 1999. An unknown number of successors have also been known as Willie. Tuesday's event is Wiarton's 60th annual Groundhog Day.
Whistle-pigs?
Groundhogs are known by many other names, according to National Geographic, including land beavers, woodchucks and whistle-pigs, for their tendency to emit short, high-pitched whistles.
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