Punxsutawney Phil didn’t see his shadow in a ceremony Friday morning at Gobbler’s Knob in Pennsylvania. Per tradition, that means he’s predicting an early spring.
The annual Groundhog Day celebration in Punxsutawney, about 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, originated from a German legend about a furry rodent. The gathering annually attracts thousands.
Before Friday’s announcement, Punxsutawney Groundhog Club President Tom Dunkel told the crowd that a cane that he held gave him the power to speak Groundhog-ese.
Dunkel said that Phil would tell him which of two scrolls to use to make his weather prediction.
At Dunkel’s direction, the crowd helped fire up the groundhog with repeated chants of “Phil!” before a club member pulled the groundhog from a stump on the stage and held it aloft.
Dunkel and other club members leaned over the stump before announcing that they had a decision.
Vice President Dan McGinley read the decision, written in verse, from the chosen scroll and announced, “Glad tidings on this Groundhog Day and early spring is on the way.”
The last time Phil predicted an early spring was 2020. The 2021, 2022 and 2023 forecasts called for six more weeks of winter.
Other groundhogs also made their predictions Friday and agreed with Punxsutawney Phil.
Over in New York City, a crowd erupted into cheers of “early spring!” as Staten Island Chuck, touted as the world’s most accurate prognosticating groundhog, made the prediction everyone wanted to hear.
The furry friend has been accurate more than 80% of the time dating back to the first Groundhog Day festivities at the Staten Island Zoo in 1981, according to zoo officials.
“I’m glad that that imposter from Pennsylvania, Phil, is not here because it is less than 50% accuracy rate,” boasted Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon.
There was also a brief mention of the notorious debacle at the celebration 10 years ago, when a previous Staten Island Chuck wriggled out of the hands of then-Mayor Bill de Blasio and fell to the ground. That Chuck died a week later.
An autopsy revealed it suffered internal injuries, but it was not clear if they stemmed from the fall.
In Woodstock, Illinois, where the classic movie “Groundhog Day” was filmed, Woodstock Willie was pulled from a tree stump.
Longtime Chicago television news meteorologist Tom Skilling consulted with Willie before announcing he said he “definitely did not see” his shadow.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
