Punxsutawney Phil predicts early spring

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. – The handlers of Pennsylvania’s most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, say the furry rodent has failed to see his shadow, meaning he’s “predicted” an early spring.

Groundhog Day 2016 is upon us, and the forecast is in from the Weather Capitol of the World, a.k.a. Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

Remember according to folklore, if the groundhog sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. We have all the information you need to know so you can wake up bright and early to watch a groundhog come out of a hole. In any case, on this Groundhog Day, the Northeast and Northwest can plan on seeing six more weeks of winter. There were 17 times that he did not see his shadow, and nine years during the late 1800s that there is no record of Phil’s forecast. The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club also says that Phil relays his weather prediction to the president of his “Inner Circle” by speaking “Groundhogese”. The superstition that groundhogs could predict the weather had already traveled to Pennsylvania from Germany, and local newspapers printed reports on whether groundhogs saw their shadow on Candlemas. USA Today tracked Phil’s results and found that since 1988, he was “right” a total of 13 times and “wrong” times, based on national average temperatures for February.

What do you think about this year’s seasonal outlook?

We’re talking about the competition between hirsute meteorologists Punxsutawney Phil and Staten Island Chuck. Despite these crap odds, the beloved tradition of Groundhog Day dates back to 1887 in the United States, and likely isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

The Zoo claims Chuck has an 80 percent accuracy rate.

If you want to see just how insane Groundhog Day can be, check out this video from 2014.

Groundhog Day’s origins lie in an ancient European celebration of Candlemas, which is a point midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox.