Balzac Billy is the "Prairie Prognosticator", a man-sized groundhog mascot who prognosticates weather on

Groundhog Day Groundhog Day (, , , ; Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia: Daks Day) is a tradition observed regionally in the United States and Canada on February 2 of every year. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if ...

. He lives in Balzac, Alberta, 8 km north of

Calgary, Alberta Calgary () is a major city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a Metropolitan area, metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the List of ...

, Canada. According to the legend of

, the groundhog's behavior is a way of forecasting the weather. If the groundhog sees his shadow, it will mean that winter is to continue for six more weeks. The " Balzac Billy ' groundhog was created by Calgary radio station

CFAC :''CFAC also stands for Commander Fleet Activities Chinhae'' CFAC (960 AM) is a radio station serving Calgary, Alberta. Owned by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media, the station broadcasts a sports format branded as ''Sportsnet ...

program director Jim Kunkel in the late 1970s. Jim sat down with three of the CFAC radio announcers ( Paul Dunphy, Jimmy Hughes and Robin Ingram ) to come up with a Western Groundhog. After trying out a few names Jim Kunkel came up with " Balzac Billy " and the prairie prognosticator was born. Paul Dunphy produced and Jimmy Hughes voiced the first Balzac Billy " live on the scene " radio hits to be played back on the CFAC radio Ned Corrigall morning show ( two versions were produced, one for Balzac Billy seeing his shadow and one for a cloudy day). Since then, a mascot has been added ( because Southern Alberta doesn't have groundhogs ) and Balzac Billy is now a favourite prognosticator across the country on groundhog day. In 2019 and 2025, Balzac Billy predicted an early spring. In 2022 and 2024, Balzac Billy predicted six more weeks of winter.

References

External links

* {{Groundhog Day Holiday characters Canadian mascots Fictional characters from Alberta Groundhog Day