It’s Deja vu all over again.Alberta’s most famous — and contrarian — rodent is predicting another six weeks of winter after seeing his shadow Friday morning.Actually, ‘Balzac Billy’ isn’t a rodent all; rather a human in a mascot costume at the Blue Grass Garden Centre north of Calgary. The Balzac Business Community Association hosted its annual breakfast starting just before sunrise to rouse him from hibernation.But like Bill Murray in the 1993 cult classic, the infamous weather prognosticator is making the prediction despite what is turning out to be one of the warmest winters on record. That goes against his other, more famous compatriots such as Wiarton Willie, Shubenacadie Sam and Fred la marmotte in Ontario, Nova Scotia and Quebec who didn’t see their shadows — meaning an early spring down east..That follows Punxsutawney Phil in Pennsylvania who is considered to be the guru of groundhogs.The origins of Groundhog Day itself aren’t clear but are thought to date back thousands of years to present-day Germany when animalism and nature worship were prevalent. Northern Europeans believed that the badger had the power to predict the coming of spring and watched for it to know when to plant crops.The tradition was brought over to North America, predominantly to Pennsylvania where it was the groundhog, not the badger, which made these so-called predictions and was subsequently adopted around the Great Lakes in this country.In modern times the groundhog has been called into question as a metaphor for climate change..And in fact, meteorologists claim that a new analysis of Punxsutawney Phil‘s forecast have become less accurate over time and shows a coin toss would be more accurate, with shorter and warmer winters impacting the annual tradition.Weather data from the US’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows the varmint is only getting it right 40% of the time — and hardly ever for the western regions of North America.The good news is that Balzac Billy isn’t often correct, despite an incoming cold front this weekend that will see nighttime temperatures fall to the -10 range with a sprinkling of snow. Most Albertans probably wouldn’t mind.For those more inclined to the indoors, Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day will be screening at Canyon Meadows cinemas in Calgary all day Friday.
