Punxsutawney Phil is predicting six more weeks of cold weather after seeing his shadow on Monday.
His annual prediction was interpreted by his handlers at Gobbler’s Knob in western Pennsylvania.
The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club states that when Phil does not see his shadow, it means there will be an early spring. When he sees it, it’s six more weeks of winter.
Phil tends to predict a longer winter much more frequently than an early spring.
Tens of thousands of people gathered at Gobbler’s Knob for the annual ritual that dates back more than a century, with ties to ancient European agricultural traditions. Punxsutawney festivities have grown considerably since the 1993 film “Groundhog Day,” starring Bill Murray.
Lisa Gibson was at her tenth Groundhog Day, wearing a lighted hat that resembled the tree stump from which Phil emerges just after dawn.
“Oh, it’s too much, it breaks the winter monotony,” said Gibson, accompanied by her husband—dressed as Elvis Presley—and her teenage daughter. “It’s like Halloween and New Year’s, all in one holiday.”
Gibson, a Pittsburgh resident, was rooting for Phil not to see his shadow and thus predict an early spring.
Rick Siger, Pennsylvania’s secretary of community and economic development, said his car’s external thermometer read 4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 15 degrees Celsius) on the way to Gobbler’s Knob.
“I think it’s just fun—people having fun,” said Siger, attending his fourth consecutive Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney. “It brings people together at a challenging time. It’s a unifying force that shows the best of Pennsylvania, the best of Punxsutawney, this region.”
Last year’s announcement was for six more weeks of winter, by far Phil’s most common prediction and not a big surprise during the first week of February. Phil’s handlers, members of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club who wear top hats, insist that Phil’s “signals”—winks, purrs, chatter, and waves—are being interpreted correctly when they relay the groundhog’s weather forecasts for the coming days.
AccuWeather’s chief long-range forecasting specialist, meteorologist Paul Pastelok, said on Monday morning that some clouds arrived in Punxsutawney overnight, bringing snow flurries he called “micro-flurries.”
Pastelok said the next week will remain cold, with below-average temperatures in the eastern United States.
Phil is not the only animal consulted for long-range weather forecasts on this Monday. There are formal and informal Groundhog Day events in many places in the US, Canada, and other countries.
Groundhog Day is celebrated on February 2, the midpoint between the shortest and darkest day of the year, the winter solstice, and the spring equinox. It’s a time of year that also features in the Celtic calendar and the Christian feast of Candlemas.
Source: npr.org