Tuesday is Groundhog Day! The Prognosticator of Prognosticators, Punxsutawney Phil, emerged from his burrow at sunrise at Gobbler's Knob to make his prediction on whether there will be six more weeks of winter.
The story of the holiday tradition declares that if the groundhog emerges early on the morning of February 2 and sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter weather. If he doesn’t see his shadow, an early spring is in the forecast.
On Tuesday Phil did see his shadow, predicting there will be six more weeks of winter!
Organizers of the event said Phil has now seen his shadow a total of 106 years and has not seen it (meaning early spring) for 20 years. They added that 10 years are unaccounted for.
According to information compiled by the National Centers for Environmental Information, Phil has struggled in recent years to accurately predict the weather.
The annual event began in 1886, when a spirited group of groundhog hunters dubbed themselves “The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club” and proclaimed Punxsutawney Phil to be the one and only groundhog meteorologist.
Phil made his live annual Prognostication, but it looked a little different this year as it was determined that there would not be anyone in attendance or guests on the grounds as the potential COVID-19 risks to overcome were too great, the official website said.
Related: Groundhog Day: Is Punxsutawney Phil accurate with his forecasts?
