Pennsylvania groundhog ‘predicts’ early spring

If one of these varmints sees his shadow, that is supposed to mean six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t see his shadow, he stays out to join the party. And we wait with baited breath for his prediction every February of whether we will continue with a long winter or have an early Spring.

And in Punxsutawney Phil’s home state of Pennsylvania, it won’t be hard for it to feel like spring after Winter Storm Jonas walloped the region, busting through snowfall records.

So just how accurate are Punxsutawney Phil’s forecasts? That’s the question groundhog and weather enthusiasts woke up wondering Tuesday.

“Punxsutawney Phil, the seer of seers, the prognosticator of all prognosticators, was awakened from his burrow to the cheers of his thousands of faithful followers”, the man continued. Deeley and the groundhog got up close and personal, and the message was passed between the two.

“Hear ye! Hear ye!”

De Blasio dropped the groundhog in 2014, the first year he attended the ceremony while mayor.

After emerging from his burrow, Phil is said to “speak” to the Groundhog Club president in “Groundhogese”, which is a language only understood by the current president of the Inner Circle.

I guess we will never know. And I sure have fun flying my drone, but the weather forecasting is my comfort zone.

Enjoy the warm weather, Phil. Hopefully you won’t be bothered for at least another 364 days. If the weather was bad at the time, winter would end- signaling the beginning of spring-like weather. In Germany, the tradition morphed into a myth that if the sun came out on Candlemas, a hedgehog would cast its shadow, predicting snow all the way into May. If not, spring comes early.

In Washington, D.C., Punxsutawney Phil’s counterpart, Potomac Phil also called for an early spring.