On Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil 'Predicts' Six More Weeks Of Winter

Punxsutawney Phil is the most avid---even if everyone doesn't call him most accurate---weather reader. On Groundhog Day, February 2, Monday morning, he knew that six more weeks of winter were coming, despite the overcast skies.

At 7:25 a.m. in Punxsutawney, Pa, he saw his shadow even as snow showers scattered through the region in the latest winter storm. Winter would persist if the marmot is proved right.

Last year too he saw his shadow. It was the most "brutally long winters" that crept up to March in various places in 2014. Many areas had more than 30 inches of snow, and Phil testified to it.

Phil's accuracy is an endless source of debate. In 2013, Phil predicted early spring, but bitter cold and snow spread in eastern U.S. right into March. Strangely, the prosecuting attorney in Butler County, Ohio, sought death penalty for Phil for "misrepresentation of early spring." However, a Pennsylvania law firm defended him, declaring that the Ohio attorney had no jurisdiction to prosecute him.

This year's forecast indicates that "this winter will be remembered for its duration more than its intensity." Temperatures, so far, have been mostly above average across the lower 48. It is not clear whether Phil will forecast winter that favours "snow-lovers and ski bunnies."

Phil's official website, groundhog.org  declared that he has "of course" issued a correct forecast 100 percent of the time. However, the website stormfax.com claims that his forecasts have only been correct 39 per cent of the time.

The entire belief is just absurd folklore, according to theindependent.com. Although a groundhog's lifespan is said to be just six years, superstition believes that Phil's predictions is said to have started in 1887, after which he saw his shadow 102 times, including 2015, and not seen it 17 times.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s National Climatic Data Center too records that he has "no predictive skill".

Though it's just belief, Groundhog Day still celebrated on February 2 with a holiday and early morning festivals to watch the groundhog emerge from its burrow. If it is cloudy when he comes out from his burrow on this day, then spring will come early. If it is sunny, the groundhog will supposedly see its shadow and scamper back into its burrow, and the winter will persist for six more weeks. NOAA describes Groundhog Day originating as an age-old honour of the mid-point between the winter solstice and spring equinox. "Superstition has it that fair weather [at this midpoint] was seen as forbearance of a stormy and cold second half to winter," NOAA writes in its summary of Groundhog Day background and folklore.

This interesting celebration of Groundhog Day occurs simultaneously in various areas of North America, in which many furry rodents make predictions. The regions include:

    Atlanta, Georgia: General Beau Lee

    Ontario, Canada: Wiarton Willie

    Raleigh, North Carolina: Sir Walter Wally

    Sun Prairie, Wisconsin: Jimmy

    New York City: Staten Island Chuck

    Birmingham, Alabama: Birmingham Bill

Even in Washington, D.C., Potomac Phil, a stuffed Groundhog made his forecast at 7:30 a.m. in Dupont Circle.

One thing you cannot deny about Phil---he's cute and funny!