Still wishing for frigid winter weather? Not all hope is lost if groundhogs see their shadows on Thursday.

With this year's balmy weather across most of the country, some wonder if Canada's top groundhogs -- Shubenacadie Sam in Nova Scotia, Wiarton Willie in Ontario and Balzac Billy in Alberta -- will know to come out on Groundhog Day, Feb.2.

"Sam may not have even hibernated yet," Sue Penney, education co-ordinator for the Shubenacadie Wildlife Park in Nova Scotia, laughingly told Canadian Press.

The rodent, who lives in a heated den and is fed carrots and broccoli,  is the earliest of the furry forecasters to make his prediction known.

Groundhog Day stems from a tradition started by early German settlers in 1887 in Punxsutawney, Penn.

People there believed that there would be snow in May if the sun shone on Feb. 2, the Christian feast of Candlemas.

Candlemas is known as a "cross-quarter day," which falls halfway between the winter solstice on Dec.21 and the first day of spring on Mar.21.

According to folklore, we'll have six more weeks of winter if the groundhogs see their shadows.

Each year thousands of people gather before dawn to watch the various groundhogs emerge.

The Wiarton Willie Festival is a major draw in Wiarton, Ont. with a weekend of events planned around for the 50th anniversary this year.

But groundhogs come out of hibernation on Feb.2 because of the lure of sex, not the weather. This day is the beginning of their mating season.

Their ability to predict the weather is also questionable.

Last year, Wiarton Willie and Balzac Billy emerged without seeing their shadows. But Shubenacadie Sam and the United States' official groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, both saw their shadows.

Groundhog Day usually provides hope that an end to the cold weather is in sight. But this year it may give Canadians a chance to experience winter.

"We certainly can't feel punished if his prediction is six more weeks of winter, because we haven't had six days of winter," Environment Canada's David Phillips told Canadian Press.

Canadian cities have recorded their warmest January this year.

Even Winnipeg, better known at this time of year as "Winterpeg," is basking in a flow of warm Pacific air instead of shivering under a frigid blast from the Arctic. The average daytime high temperature in Winnipeg this January was -3.4 C when it should have been -12.7 C.

For further examples of how unusual this January has been, here's how some Canadian cities have warmed up when compared to their typical temperature this month:

• 3.5 degrees C warmer in Vancouver
• 7 degrees C warmer in Calgary
• 10 degrees C warmer in Regina

"We pride ourselves in saying there's no wimps that live in this country," Phillips said.

"We shun blizzards and sneer at frostbite. But we've done nothing, but bask in the warmth of those Pacific breezes and almost a national chinook from coast to coast."

But the warm weather is expected to continue throughout February with more rain instead of snow.

"Most winters we'd be anxious to hear what Wiarton Willie or all of the groundhogs across the country have to say because, by this time, we'd have had enough," Phillips said.

"To think that we're about to get these groundhogs' predictions about winter when we haven't had winter is a certain bit of irony. It's certainly something I can't remember ever happening before."

With files from Canadian Press