130th Anniversary of Groundhog Day: No Shadow

Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog famous for his yearly predictions on the arrival of spring based on whether or not he sees his shadow, made his appearance Tuesday morning as he emerged from his burrow.

Is this current warm weather more than a trend?

Members of the top hat-wearing Inner Circle announced the “forecast” at sunrise, just before 7:30 a.m. Tuesday. Legend has it that if the furry rodent sees his shadow on February 2, winter will last another month-and-a-half. Spring may be coming early this year.

But spring does not appear near in the state of Colorado as a snowstorm continues for the third day.

Handler Ron Ploucha holds up Punxsutawney Phil in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday. He was serenaded before the sun rose with creative lyrics like “Groundhog, Groundhog, come out to play, we want to see your face today”. But in Providence, 65 degrees did beat the previous record of 64, set the same year as the Boston record.

The old tradition was brought to a wider audience by furry critter Punxsutawney Phil and Bill Murray in the 1993 comedy classic Groundhog Day. New York’s got Staten Island Chuck, Ohio’s got Buckeye Chuck, and Georgia’s got General Beauregard Lee. De Blasio dropped the groundhog in 2014, the first year he attended the ceremony as mayor.

A few others groundhogs from around the country were more optimistic.

Although the theatrics surrounding Phil’s forecast, which typically attract hundreds of people, are enjoyable, the actual prediction has already been decided.

For those who were hoping for a longer winter, Phil is typically correct with his spring weather forecasts only about 39 percent of the time.

The official groundhog of Groundhogs da, Phil, has come out from his burrow on Gobbler’s Kob, Punxsutawney, Pa. on February 2 for the past 130 years; and is said to predict the weather for the rest of winter.