Punxsutawney Phil Makes His Groundhog Day Prediction

It looks like we’ll have another six weeks of winter in Connecticut, at least according to America’s furry weather seer.

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow around 7:25 a.m. in Punxsutawney, Pa., according to the Washington Post.

Meanwhile, Jimmy the groundhog decided to bite the mayor’s ear in Sun Prairie, Wis. during a similar ceremony. Hopefully that means an extremely early Spring.

Groundhog Day marks the midway point of winter. Centuries old superstition holds that sunny skies on this day meant that the second half of winter would be stormy and cold, while cloudy skies would mean that winter would be mild, according to NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center.

Eventually the tradition morphed to include the groundhog, who would come out of his hibernation to check on the weather. If he saw his shadow it would mean a longer winter and he could go back to hibernation. If he didn’t see it he would stay above ground, according to The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.

The tradition garnered even more attention after the movie Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray came out in 1993.

Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow 102 times since 1887. He hasn’t seen it 17 times and there are nine years with no record.

The rodent’s track record is spotty at best, according to NCDC. Phil didn’t see his shadow in 2013. About a week later the northeast was pummeled by a crippling nor’easter storm Nemo, which dumped as much as 40 inches of snow in parts of Connecticut.

Cold continued to grip much of the country weeks later, leading a Butler County, Ohio prosecutor to seek the death penalty for Punxsutawney Phil.

A Pennsylvania law firm Nurick Law Group came to Phil’s defense and issued a cease-and-desist order against the prosecutor.

Image via Punxsutawney Phil Facebook page

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