PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. — Punxsutawney Phil (search), a groundhog said to have forecasting abilities, emerged from his burrow Monday and saw his shadow, meaning six more weeks of winter are on tap.
The tradition is rooted in a German superstition that if a hibernating animal casts a shadow Feb. 2 — the Christian holiday of Candlemas — winter will drag on. If no shadow is seen, legend says spring will come early.
In the past 117 years, the groundhog is reported to have seen his shadow 93 times and the last four Groundhog Days.
A day before the furry forecaster was to make his 118th annual weather prediction, people from as far away as England descended on this small town to shake the winter doldrums.
Mike and Anne Castledine, a retired couple from Derbyshire, England, caught groundhog fever after seeing the Bill Murray (search) movie "Groundhog Day," and just wanted to experience it for themselves.
"We were quite hooked once we'd seen the movie," Anne Castledine said Sunday after driving in from New Jersey.
Back home, "There's really no knowledge of what it entails," she said.
"We couldn't care less if he sees his shadow," said Bill Cooper, president of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. "It's a people holiday."
What Groundhog Day (search) entails is a lot of revelry, although alcohol has been banned from Gobbler's Knob, the site just outside of town where Punxsutawney Phil issues his proclamation.
Music and dancing go on all night and the town's population of roughly 6,700 grew nearly six-fold to a record 40,000 last year. Because this year's Groundhog Day falls on a weekday, crowds are expected to be down considerably, although the festivities still include seven scheduled weddings.
Punxsutawney Phil is perhaps the most watched on Groundhog Day, but he certainly isn't alone. More than a dozen states celebrate the day with their own critters, including Dixie Dan in Mississippi, Buckeye Chuck in Ohio and Gen. Beauregard Lee in Georgia.
Even Pennsylvania has a competing ceremony. About 165 miles to the southeast, the Slumbering Groundhog Lodge of Quarryville has been forecasting with the animals since 1908.
Early on Groundhog Day, the group sends six squads into the fields to observe groundhog holes. Their findings are then relayed through Octoraro Orphie, a stuffed groundhog representing the group.
The tradition is rooted in a German superstition that if a hibernating animal casts a shadow Feb. 2 — the Christian holiday of Candlemas — winter will drag on. If no shadow is seen, legend says spring will come early.
In the past 117 years, the groundhog is reported to have seen his shadow 93 times and the last four Groundhog Days.
A day before the furry forecaster was to make his 118th annual weather prediction, people from as far away as England descended on this small town to shake the winter doldrums.
Mike and Anne Castledine, a retired couple from Derbyshire, England, caught groundhog fever after seeing the Bill Murray (search) movie "Groundhog Day," and just wanted to experience it for themselves.
"We were quite hooked once we'd seen the movie," Anne Castledine said Sunday after driving in from New Jersey.
Back home, "There's really no knowledge of what it entails," she said.
"We couldn't care less if he sees his shadow," said Bill Cooper, president of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. "It's a people holiday."
What Groundhog Day (search) entails is a lot of revelry, although alcohol has been banned from Gobbler's Knob, the site just outside of town where Punxsutawney Phil issues his proclamation.
Music and dancing go on all night and the town's population of roughly 6,700 grew nearly six-fold to a record 40,000 last year. Because this year's Groundhog Day falls on a weekday, crowds are expected to be down considerably, although the festivities still include seven scheduled weddings.
Punxsutawney Phil is perhaps the most watched on Groundhog Day, but he certainly isn't alone. More than a dozen states celebrate the day with their own critters, including Dixie Dan in Mississippi, Buckeye Chuck in Ohio and Gen. Beauregard Lee in Georgia.
Even Pennsylvania has a competing ceremony. About 165 miles to the southeast, the Slumbering Groundhog Lodge of Quarryville has been forecasting with the animals since 1908.
Early on Groundhog Day, the group sends six squads into the fields to observe groundhog holes. Their findings are then relayed through Octoraro Orphie, a stuffed groundhog representing the group.
more snow!!!!!! and stay that cold!
