The famous groundhog saw his shadow this morning.
Today is Groundhog Day, and so once again the nation’s eyes turn to the Pennsylvania town of Punxsutawney. This morning, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club took the world’s most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, out of his burrow at Gobbler’s Knob to deliver this year’s weather prediction.
According to the scroll the club members pulled out alongside Phil, the little critter saw his shadow this year, which means we’re in for another six weeks of winter. This the second shadow-sight in a row, as Phil saw his shadow in 2021 and predicted six more weeks of winter as well.
Interestingly, Phil’s prediction from last year was about halfway correct, which for a groundhog with no actual understanding of meteorological phenomena, isn’t bad. “The contiguous United States saw below average temperatures in February and above average temperatures in March of last year. Phil was 50/50 on his forecast,” the National Centers for Environmental Information, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said.
Punxsutawney Phil, the weather prognosticating groundhog, predicted six more weeks of winter during the 136th celebration of Groundhog Day on Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, PA. pic.twitter.com/Nn71VmfNXG
— The Hill (@thehill) February 2, 2022
That’s definitely better than Phil’s overall track record of weather prediction. “On average, Phil has gotten it right 40% of the time over the past 10 years,” the NCEI said.
Of course, considering another major winter storm has been announced for the east coast at time of writing, Phil might be a little more on the money this year.