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Today is Gound Hog say...


dweese

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Well Willy didn't see his shadow so an early spring is on its way.

If you believe ground hogs... Seems spring has been here and gone 3times already this year.

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ya we have had a few springs show up and leave already this winter

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Hey Domino can we have a groundhog shooting app for OC?

Anyone got a AR15, Bushmaster or other "scary black" gun they want to get rid of?

I'd hate if some "real news" actually happened today. You'd almost think the rodent meant something. I guess some people don't have anything better to do. VR Land had a woman on the drove from Chatham to Wiarton. She said on the drive up was tricky because @ some times blowing snow made for reduced visibility.

Four months from now, the whiners will be complaining about the heat & humidity of T.O.'s 1st hot spell & no rain for 3 weeks.

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As accurate as Dave Phillips, FQ's buddy "Bob in the Garden" & the Weather Idgit on CHEX:

From the Jan' 31, 2012 Toronto Star:

How accurate are Groundhog Day predictors? Not very

U.S. groundhogs like Punxsutawney Phil have a pretty bad prediction track record at 39 per cent, but Canadian ones like Wiarton Willie are even worse.

As the world turns its attention to Punxsutawney and Wiarton ahead of Thursday’s Groundhog Day celebrations, an important fact is likely to be overlooked: The furry little forecasters just aren’t that accurate.

The various Groundhog Day organizers — Punxsutawney Phil, Ontario’s own Wiarton Willie, Nova Scotia’s Shubenacadie Sam, and Alberta’s ‘Prairie Prognosticator’ Balzac Billy — claim that the rodents’ forecasts are accurate 75 to 90 per cent of the time. But meteorological records would indicate otherwise.

Biology professor Stam Zervanos looked back at Punxsutawney Phil, a tradition now celebrating its 126th year. He estimates that Phil or his ancestors could predict with only 39 per cent accuracy that winters continued to be cold for several weeks following the appearance of its shadow on Feb. 2, or were milder than usual after it couldn’t see a shadow.

Canadian groundhogs’ predictions are even worse: based on several decades of data, they are correct only 37 per cent of the time. According to Encyclopedia Canada, 33 per cent accuracy can occur just by chance.

When you break it down by city, the chances of any weather-forecasting marmot getting it right in Toronto fall to about 29 per cent. The best odds of an accurate prediction are in Yellowknife, where a groundhog seeing its shadow translates to six more weeks of cold winter about half the time.

Inexact science though it may be, gamblers seem inspired to roll the dice on the furry prognosticator.

Online gambling site Intertops.com has listed the early odds heavily in favour of Punxsutawney Phil seeing his shadow once again this year, at 2/9 odds. On the flip side, it lists 13/4 odds Phil won’t see his shadow.

Intertops isn’t listing odds for Canadian groundhogs. Weather data for 13 cities across Canada reveals there tends to be an equal number of cloudy and sunny days on Feb. 2.

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Somebody should have shot both those fat no good for nothing rodents long ago

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Somebody should have shot both those fat no good for nothing rodents long ago

CHEERS TO THAT!!!!

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Somebody should have shot both those fat no good for nothing rodents long ago

Never been to Wiarton, is there anything there? It seems pretty pathetic that the town's main attraction is a ground hog.

From Wiki:

The story of Wiarton Willie dates back to 1956. A Wiarton resident named Mac McKenzie wanted to showcase his childhood home to his many friends, so he sent out invitations for a "Groundhog Day" gathering.

Wiarton Willie himself is a more recent addition to the festivities. In the early years, prognostication was provided by the "mythical" trio of groundhogs Grundoon, Muldoon and Sand Dune. Willie appeared on the scene in the 1980s. Wiarton Willie's predictive powers are attributed (by his followers) to his situation on the 45th parallel, exactly halfway between the Equator and the North Pole. He is claimed locally to be accurate in his prognostications around 90 per cent of the time, although scientific studies show groundhog predictions to have a success rate of more like 37 per cent.[2]

Death and ensuing scandal

The original Wiarton Willie lived to the advanced age of 22, and was found dead only two days before Groundhog Day in 1999. The organizers were unable to find a replacement, and instead marked Groundhog Day by revealing "Willie" in a coffin. He had been dressed in a tuxedo, had coins over his eyes, and a carrot between his paws. A scandal ensued when it became known that the real Willie had in fact decomposed, and the body in the coffin was that of an older, stuffed groundhog.

Looking @ Mapsource, they'd better move it to Bracebridge. Wiarton is 44.7* North whereas Bracebridge is on the 45th parallel.

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