Phil’s forecast: Six more weeks of winter!
I know I blogged about this last year- hard to believe it's been that long already- but I do like Groundhog Day, and not just the movie, so here we go again...Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning at sunrise in Pennsylvania, indicating that 6 more weeks of winter are expected before spring begins. It is amazing to me that they have been doing this tradition in Punxsutawney since the 1800s. This is the same result that he had last year and both years I was a little surprised because it was cloudy! Phil was apparently happy about the Steelers win yesterday, according to his official forecast-
Phil's official forecast as read February 2nd, 2009 at sunrise at Gobbler's Knob:
Hear Ye Hear Ye
On Gobbler's Knob this glorious Groundhog Day, February 2nd, 2009
Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators
Awoke to the call of President Bill Cooper
And greeted his handlers, Ben Hughes and John Griffiths
After casting a joyful eye towards thousands of his faithful followers,
Phil proclaimed that his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers were World Champions one more time
And a bright sky above me
Showed my shadow beside me.
So 6 more weeks of winter it will be.
Here's a revisit to a couple interesting facts I gathered last year about Groundhog Day-
The Punxsutawney Spirit newspaper is credited with printing the news of the first observance in 1886.
In 2001, Phil's prediction was shown live on the JumboTron at Times Square in New York City.
Punxsutawney is located in Western Pennsylvania, about 80 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
For most of the year, Phil lives in a climate-controlled home at the Punxsutawney Library.
The groundhog is known by several names. The most common one is the woodchuck.
A groundhog can whistle when it is alarmed. Groundhogs also whistle in the spring when they begin courting.
A groundhog's life span is normally 6 to 8 years.
For more fun facts, the official website is http://www.groundhog.org.
I read somewhere that Punxsutawney Phil is only right about 40% of the time. So according to the odds alone, maybe spring will begin early after all..
But Phil isn't the only one predicting the weather this morning. I lived in Lubbock, TX for two years before moving to the Eastern Carolinas. And those West Texans have a critter forecasting the weather as well... Prairie Dog Pete will also be making an appearance this morning- and although it's less publicized, it's no less fun. He's a resident of Prairie Dog Town located in Lubbock, where people actually pay to go see Prairie Dogs! I guess as long as they aren't burrowing in your front yard, they're actually kind of cute. I used to like to take visitors just outside of town to show them the burrowing owls and prairie dogs native to this area. Believe it or not, it was often a highlight of the trip! Here's a link to the state park's website, and I'll try to see if I can see what Pete decided and let you know later!
http://parks.ci.lubbock.tx.us/extra/prairieDog.aspx
Posted by
on 02/02 at 07:20 AM
Apparently prognosticating groundhogs are common than I thought! The “official” groundhog in the South that I know about is General Beauregard Lee. He did not see his shadow this year which begs me to reason: I wonder if a groundhog’s forecast is unique to where he lives? That would mean an early spring in the South and a long winter up North. Of course, given the snow yesterday, I’d say General Lee pretty much threw his credibility for this year out the window!