The Prognosticator of Prognosticators, Punxsutawney Phil, will once again appear at sunrise on February 2 at Gobbler’s Knob in the Pennsylvania Wilds to make his annual prediction. It’s Groundhog Day, but it might just as well be called Candlemas.
Or, “Whistle Pig Day.”
As legend has it, if the varmint sees his shadow, we’ll get six more weeks of winter.
The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club is keeping score and claims that Punxsutawney Phil has correctly predicted the weather every time. But the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) has estimated that Phil is only correct about 40 percent of the time.
You can watch this year’s celebration live via internet stream here at approximately 7:25 am eastern time, February 2).
The groundhog is also known as the whistle pig, the woodchuck, and the land beaver and comes from the large squirrel family known as marmots.
The current myth dates back to the Christian holiday of Candlemas, in which candles were blessed and distributed.
The celebrators of Candlemas declared clear skies on that day meant a longer winter.
The Roman legions brought the tradition to the Germans, who concluded that if the sun made an appearance on Candlemas Day, a hedgehog would cast a shadow, thus predicting six more weeks of bad weather or “Second Winter.”
German immigrants brought the tradition to Pennsylvania.
The town of Punxsutawney adopted the tradition in 1887. The town’s web site recounts those heady times:
“…a spirited group of groundhog hunters from Punxsutawney dubbed themselves ‘The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.’ One member was an editor of Punxsutawney’s newspaper. Using his ink, he proclaimed Punxsutawney Phil, the local groundhog, to be the one and only weather prognosticating groundhog. He issued this proclamation on Candlemas, and yes, Groundhog Day. Phil’s fame spread, and newspapers from around the globe began to report his Gobbler’s Knob prediction. Today you will find 20,000+ in attendance and millions watching on television or via the web.”
Today, the town of Punxsutawney, Pa. has a four-day festival leading up to Groundhog Day.
Two fun scenes from the Bill Murray film “Groundhog Day.”