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Groundhog Day Is Here & Punxsutawney Phil Made His Official Prediction

Punxsutawney Phil Groundhog Day

Just as he’s done for hundreds of years, Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his hole on February 2nd to predict how many more weeks of winter we’ll have—and he gave us some unfortunate news.

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A crowd gathered at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, PA, early this morning to see if the famous groundhog saw his shadow. As legend has it, if he doesn’t see the shadow when he leaves his burrow, spring is on the way. If he does, we have six more weeks of winter ahead. This year, Phil saw his shadow.

“It’s Groundhog Day, and maybe life is on the loop. But I miss my burrow. I miss my coop,” read an announcer. “So I’m headed back down, there’s a shadow up here — get ready for six more weeks of winter this year!”

Punxsutawney Phil Isn’t The Only Groundhog In The Business

According to The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, people recorded the first Groundhog Day in 1886, and the tradition has continued every February since. However, CNN reports that the Library of Congress has evidence that the residents of Gobbler’s Knob trusted a groundhog with their weather prediction in 1840. And some believe the tradition may date back centuries.

For those of you who are dreading 42 more days of cold and snow, don’t worry. Phil doesn’t exactly have a flawless prediction record. Over the past decade, he has only been correct 40% of the time, and the Phils prior maintained the same stats.

More good news is that Michigan’s Groundhog, Woody the Woodchuck, predicted an early spring. In his 27 years of forecasting, he’s been correct 65% of the time. So the odds are in your favor!

This story’s featured image is by Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu via Getty Images.

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