As February kicks off with a cold blast, Manitoba's Groundhog Day prediction comes as no surprise. 

On Wednesday morning, Oak Hammock Marsh's Manitoba Merv puppet saw his shadow, signalling another six weeks of winter.

"Manitoba Merv saw his shadow! Six more weeks of winter for Manitoba!" Oak Hammock Marsh tweets Wednesday.

 

History

This tradition dates back to a Christian tradition called Candlemas. The holiday is celebrating the Virgin Mary bringing Jesus to a temple in Jerusalem to purify the 40 days after his birth. Churches celebrate this 40 days after Epiphany with a ceremony; church leaders bless and give out candles, with the candle length signalling how long and how cold the winter would be. Some churches have parishioners bring their own candles to the church to be blessed. Germans added a hedgehog to the tradition. A groundhog was used when the German tradition arrived in North America.