Manitoba Merv at Oak Hammock Marsh didn't see his shadow this morning, but it's still going to be quite colder than normal until spring.

Environment Canada Meteorologist Natalie Hasell explains why.

"Looking at the forecasts that are currently available, that were issued yesterday, it looks like we have a signal for well-below normal temperatures for the February, March and April period," says Hasell. "We've already been experiencing some quite cold stretches, and we're right in the middle of one now."

She says the current la Niña will continue well into the spring, but that doesn't mean we won't get warm spells now and then. Hasell notes a la Niña is the cold form of the oscillations that take place more south in the Pacific and affects our weather in the prairies.

Hasell adds in passing, she's not sure what to think of the tradition of wakening a hibernating ground hog at this time of year.

"It's still in hibernation," she notes. "They are artificially heating up the den of this animal, so that it wakes up, pokes its head out of this hole. This just seems like unusual treatment of this animal."