Banff 
Alberta’s “groundhog,” Balzac Billy, predicted six more weeks of winter this morning.
Legend has it that, on February 2nd, if the groundhog emerges from its burrow and sees its shadow, winter will last another six weeks. If it doesn’t see its shadow, winter will be shorter.
Credit: Balzac Community Association
While six additional weeks of winter from February 2 take you to March 15, which falls before the official onset of spring, according to groundhog tradition, this indicates a long winter.
Balzac Billy is not a real groundhog but a mascot of Balzac, located 24km north of Calgary.
The origins of Balzac Billy can be traced to the 1970s, when Balzac’s then-mayor, Merle Osborne, befriended a Richardson Ground Squirrel. During the next few decades, Balzac Billy disappeared from public life following several inaccurate predictions.
However, he has made a return in recent years as a mascot for the town, drawing in large crowds every February 2nd when he pops out from his burrow in front of Blue Grass Nursery & Garden Centre to share his prediction on how long winter in Alberta will last.
Credit: Blue Grass Garden Centre
The Balzac Business Community Association hosted their Annual Groundhog Day Breakfast to rouse Balzac Billy from hibernation. The celebrations began at 7 a.m. with the annual breakfast.
Billy emerged from his hole around 8:15 a.m. and picked up a snow brush predicting six more weeks of winter.
Canada’s well-known weather-predicting groundhogs differed in their opinions on how long the winter will last as they delivered their annual forecasts through in-person celebrations this year.
Can Alberta not have a real ground hog like other provinces. I had to explain to my children that Alberta has a man dressed in a costume that pretends to be a ground hog. This is just sad!