Winnipeg 
Manitoba Merv has delivered his annual verdict, and for Manitobans, it’s more of the same.
Manitoba Merv/Credit: Oak Hammock Marsh
The province’s weather-predicting groundhog emerged from Oak Hammock Marsh on Monday, saw his shadow, and signalled six more weeks of winter.
Staff at the marsh didn’t sugarcoat the result, noting that extended winter conditions are “pretty normal” for Manitoba, while also pointing out the timing lined up with World Wetlands Day.
While Merv leaned into winter, other Canadian prognosticators told a different story. Wiarton Willie in Ontario and Fred la Marmotte both predicted an early spring, as did Nova Scotia’s Shubenacadie Sam and Lucy Lobster.
Manitoba Merv’s backstory is a little different from most. He began life more than 25 years ago as a puppet used in educational shows and has since become a provincial fixture. According to organizers, Merv boasts a 98 per cent prediction accuracy, an impressive claim, especially for a groundhog who is, in fact, stuffed.
Merv lives in a cardboard box at the Oak Hammock Marsh Interpretive Centre, venturing out just once a year on February 2 before returning to his office home. His appearance anchors a full day of activities at the marsh, blending winter fun with wetland education in recognition of the 1971 Convention on Wetlands.
Manitoba once had a live animal forecaster, Winnipeg Wyn, who lived at FortWhyte Alive. Wyn’s forecasts were based on observed behaviour rather than shadows. She died in August 2020, closing a chapter in Manitoba’s Groundhog Day history, one that Merv now carries forward, six more weeks of winter and all.
