Groundhog Day Coming Up Tuesday

Groundhog Day in the United States is all about Punxsutawney, Penn., a town located about 90 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. On Thursday, February 2, 2017, crowds will gather to watch Punxsutawney Phil emerge from his winter hibernation, and wait to see whether or not he sees his shadow.

Phil will leave his burrow early in the morning on February 2nd at Gobblers Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to observe the weather conditions and look for his shadow.

According to folklore, if Phil sees his own shadow, there will be 6 more weeks of winter. If he doesn't see his shadow, there will be an early spring.

Flipping a coin might be as accurate as Phil. Since 1988, the groundhog was "right" 14 times and "wrong" 15 times. In orther words, only 14 times did the national average temperature for the remainder of February match what would be expected based on what the groundhog predicted.

But last year, Phil was spot on: The fuzzy rodent didn't see his shadow, so winter should have been over. And both February and March ended up warmer than average across the nation, NOAA said. In fact, every state in the continguous U. S. had an above-average March temperature.

Historic odds heavily favor a forecast for winter to last deep into March. Since 1887, the groundhog has seen his shadow 102 times to forecast a longer winter and not seen it 18 times to predict an early spring. (There is no record of the prediction for 10 times in the late 19th century.) As to his accuracy, according to the StormFax Weather Almanac and records kept since 1887, Phil's predictions have been correct 39% of the time.

Curious about what groundhogs look like and how they act?
Here's an in-depth look at the Groundhog:

 

A short history about Groundhog Day:

 

Two facts you probably didn't know about Groundhog Day:

1. According to the website groundhog.org, there's a legend that during Prohibition, Phil threatened to impose 60 weeks of winter on the community if he wasn't allowed a drink.

2. In the years following the release of Groundhog Day, a 1993 film starring Bill Murray, crowds numbering as high as 30,000 have visited Gobbler's Knob, a tiny hill in Punxsutawney where the ceremony takes place.