Today (2/2) is Groundhog Day 2016 and Punxsutawney Phil come out of his hole and did NOT see his shadow indicating an early spring.
In case you were not aware, today is the 119th anniversary of the tradition of Groundhog Day. It was all started in 1897 by a newspaper editor.
This man belonged to a group of groundhog hunters from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. He declared “Phil,” the Punxsutawney groundhog, to be America’s only true weather-forecasting groundhog. The first Groundhog Day celebration was then held at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney.
Of course most of you know that tradition states if the groundhog comes out of his burrow on this day and sees his shadow there will be six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t see his shadow, it means there will be an early spring.
The truth that the tradition stems from is that groundhogs come out of hibernation in February amd emerge from their burrows to look for a mate. They then return to underground until they come back out in March ending their hibernation for good.
There has been long line of groundhogs named Phil from Punxsutawney. But, other towns across North America have gotten into the spirit of Groundhog Day with their very own weather-predicting rodents, from Birmingham Bill to Staten Island Chuck to Shubenacadie Sam in Canada.
So how accurate is Punxsutawney Phil’s predictions? According to USA Today, since 1988 Phil has been “right” 13 times and “wrong” 15 times.
Let’s hope that Phil’s prediction of an early spring brings his “right” total to with one of his “wrong” total this year.
By: Buck Stevens
