Thursday was Groundhog Day, the day we all find out whether there will be another six more weeks of winter weather.
While there probably aren’t many in Rossland who would cheer for the groundhog to see its own shadow, since that would mean Spring comes early and the ski season will suffer, there are a lot of people in the U.S. and Canada who look to the animal for weather guidance.
Hopefully the news is good, because, this year was already off to a rocky start with the lack of snow in the forecast. The snow is just now arriving, and it’s already February.
The tradition of Groundhog Day probably doesn’t hold as much significance here in Rossland, since we are a bit of a different elevation and there aren’t many groundhogs around.
In fact, in Canada the predictive groundhogs are on the other side of the country, in places like Ontario and Nova Scotia, so it’s hard to say if the animal’s predictions would have any bearing at all, if they are accurate.
But really is the groundhog method any more predictable than other ways of checking the weather? Even meteorologists have trouble sometimes.
So for a town like Rossland, where so many enjoy the outdoors and the snow sports that come with it there is only one course of action to take today.
That of course is to get outside and enjoy the winter while it lasts in case the groundhog is right.
That, or you could always just do a snow dance.