Bundle Up: Phil Says 6 More Weeks of Winter

Thought Question: What kind of annual traditions does your community have? How are they celebrated?

One of America’s oddest traditions happened on Thursday, and it’s safe to say, none of us are happy with this year’s outcome.

Punxsutawney Phil might be the most famous groundhog. He lives in Pennsylvania. Phil has insider knowledge of when seasons change. Thursday he saw his shadow, meaning we have another six weeks of winter weather.  

As this kooky tradition goes, each year on February 2 in the small town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, Phil is released from his cage at a nearby spot called Gobbler’s Knob. If the day is sunny and the rodent spots his shadow, the contiguous 48 US states are in for six more weeks of winter. If Phil fails to see his shadow, it means an early spring is on its way.

The event draws thousands of people. It has its origins in a German legend that involves a badger being a weather prophet. Some Germans considered the appearance of badgers to be the sign of a new season. The lore traveled overseas to the Pennsylvania Dutch. For reasons not completely clear, though, they inserted a groundhog into the role of badger. (It’s thought that groundhogs were more plentiful in these parts of Pennsylvania.)

For a long while, Phil’s prediction was an obscure media curiosity, something quirky to offset stories about death and taxes. But the 1993 movie “Groundhog Day” starring comic Bill Murray helped to root the tradition into American culture.

Phil’s predictive skills are in question, though. Meteorologists have compared his forecast to the national weather and found Phil is right just 40% of the time. 

Photo from Reuters.