More winter or spring? BC’s resident ‘groundhog’ makes her weather prediction for 2024

Guess what, BC? Today is Groundhog Day across the country, which means Violet the Vancouver Island Marmot is one of many resident ‘groundhogs’ to emerge from their slumber this morning to make their official weather predictions.

Will there be six more weeks of winter? Or will we transition to spring?? Only Violet knows. And since she’s accurately predicted the weather two years in a row, we think she knows what she’s doing.

According to the Marmot Recovery Foundation, this species of Marmot is critically endangered and belongs to the ‘groundhog’ (Sciuridae) family. So if you were going to question the validity of Violet’s “Goundhoggedness” – think again.

As of the morning of Friday, February 2nd, the foundation has shared Violet’s official 2024 Groundhog Day prediction:

In addition to her weather forecasting responsibilities, three-year-old Violet plays a critical role in recovering her species’ population from “the brink of extinction,” according to the foundation.

“She is just reaching adulthood, and still waiting to have her first litter of pups, who in turn would be released to wild to rebuild the fragile Vancouver Island marmot population” reads a previous post.

And if this photo is any indication, it looks like Violet (like us), is not nearly ready to fully emerge from her winter slumber:

So there you have it, BC. Time to take our lead from Violet and hit the hay until spring arrives.

In the meantime, we plan on hitting up some local jazz nights and dessert shops to stay cozy over the next couple of weeks.