Content
Skip to Main ContentAccessibility Help
Nova Scotia

Shubenacadie Sam says it's going to be an early spring

Nova Scotia's prognosticating marmot did not see his shadow which, according to folklore, means spring is on its way. Ontario's Wiarton Willie is also onside while hardliner Punxsutawney Phil said winter would drag on for another six weeks.

Shubenacadie Sam has the honour of making the first North American prediction of the day

Cassie Williams · CBC News ·
Shubenacadie Sam emerges from his burrow at the wildlife park in Shubenacadie, N.S., on Thursday. The pudgy, four-legged prognosticator says Canadians will be graced with an early spring after he waddled out of his shed and did not see his shadow. (Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press)

Nova Scotia's Shubenacadie Sam waddled out of his burrow this morning and did not see his shadow. 

As the folklore says, this means an early spring.

However, groundhogs don't have a great track record for predicating the long-range weather forecast. According to a Canadian study looking at the past 30 years, groundhogs were only right about 37 per cent of the time.

A little girl is all smiles for Shubenacadie Sam during Groundhog Day festivities at the Shubenacadie Provincial Wildlife Park. (Communications Nova Scotia)

Shubenacadie Sam has the honour of making the first North American prediction of the day due to the province's time zone. Fellow Canadian prognosticating rodent, Ontario's Wiarton Willie, agreed with Sam's prediction of an early spring.

But Pennsylvannia's Punxsutawney Phil, made famous in the movie Groundhog Day, didn't agree with Sam. That town's resident rodent spotted is shadow, indicating winter will stick around for another six weeks.

A few dozen people showed up to Groundhog Day festivities at the Shubenacadie Provincial Wildlife Park Thursday. (Communications Nova Scotia)

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices|About CBC News
Corrections and clarifications|Submit a news tip|

Related Stories