I know what you want to know: Should I buy a sweater? Or a thong.

Well, you can bet on the latter: Before an enthusiastic Wednesday morning crowd of media, dignitaries and about 300 of the groundhog faithful -- and many more on shortwave, FM and marine-band -- Wiarton Willie delivered his annual prediction:

Early Spring!

It was pretty tense too, touch and go, no clear-cut decision right up until Willie took the stage to confer with Mayor Noble.

The kids and I stood next to a weather man from CFRB doing his live-remote, and even he looked up at 2 minutes to go and peered into the sort-of patchy but not-quite clear-through cloud cover and just shrugged.