Groundhog Day prediction 2012: Did Punxsutawney Phil see his shadow?
Published: Thursday, February 02, 2012, 7:26 AM Updated: Thursday, February 02, 2012, 7:36 AM
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| Punxsutawney Phil, the weather predicting groundhog, is seen on his stump during the annual Groundhog Day festivities in Punxsutawney, Pa. in this file photo from Feb. 2, 2011. |
It's an annual tradition in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania: when the groundhog speaks, we humans listen. His weather-predicting skills may only be accurate 39 percent of the time, but that hardly matters.
The rules of Groundhog Day are simple: if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, we can expect another 6 weeks of winter. If he doesn't see his shadow, it indicates that spring is "just around the corner."
What makes this small town in central Pennsylvania so special? As the vice president of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club explained to the crowd Thursday, "Our president is the only person in the world who is gifted to understand the language of Groundhogese."
On Thursday morning, Phil did see his shadow. Six more weeks of winter!
Phil immediately updated his Twitter account confirming the prognostication:
A terrifying shadow = 6 more weeks of winter! No complaining. We haven’t even had winter yet.
For many in the Northeast, another 6 weeks of winter may seem an unlikely prediction, considering the fact that winter has barely even arrived.
Indeed, one member of the crowd Thursday was heard shouting, "It's already warm enough to be spring!"
In recent years, Phil has embraced technology as a way of getting the word out, with the aforementioned Twitter account full of humorous observations like:
"All eyes are on me right now, and I'm mad with power!"
Fans and media organizations have also increasingly tried to read more into the groundhog's predictions. The Patriot-News recently ran a "scientific statistical analysis" to see if the predictions held any indicators for the 2012 presidential election.
Despite the modern flourishes, Phil's bread-and-butter remains emerging from his hole and whispering into the ear of a top-hatted man. We'll all have to wait and see if the groundhog's words of wisdom hold true.
The first day of spring is March 20, according to the calendar.
