Punxsutawney Phil, the famous weather-prognosticating groundhog, “predicted” six more weeks of winter Thursday at the annual Groundhog Day Celebration at Gobbler’s Knob.
Phil reportedly saw his shadow as he emerged from his burrow, which means — according to folklore — that there will be six more weeks of winter. His not seeing his shadow would have signaled an early spring.
Texans may see this as no surprise, as they have been braving a winter ice storm this past week.
Irving resident Lauren Hill told The Dallas Express, “I’m not surprised because we are living it (winter) right now.”
The origin of the Groundhog Day celebration in Punxsutawney stems from the German-speaking “Pennsylvania Dutch” who helped populate colonial Pennsylvania, bringing with them folk tales and traditional festivals centered around the changing of the seasons, from which Groundhog Day likely sprung.
The Groundhog Day celebration in Punxsutawney is the most famous and the largest, but the second largest celebration happens every year in Texas.
The University of Dallas has been hosting a campus-wide celebration in honor of Groundhog Day every year since 1963, making this year the event’s 60th anniversary.
This year the celebration is taking place on Saturday, February 4.
Mary Clare Witter, a student at the University of Dallas, told The Dallas Express, “It’s a really great time to get together with friends and alumni, centered around a really silly idea that’s become a tradition.”
As silly as it may be, it has become an American tradition, despite the less-than-stellar prediction track record of the celebrated mammal.
Over the last 10 years, Punxsutawney Phil had an average accuracy rate of around 40%, according to The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
This year, Phil’s prediction was at odds with the forecast of Staten Island Chuck, a prognosticating woodchuck at the Staten Island Zoo that also “predicts” the weather every year. Chuck “predicted” on Thursday that there will be an early spring.
According to History.com, Chuck’s “predictions” are reportedly accurate about 80% of the time.
