(CNN) – Every February 2, Groundhog Day, people in America keep an eye out for a groundhog’s shadow to help predict what the weather will be like in the coming weeks. This year, groundhog Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, predicting another six weeks of winter.
Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, woke up at about 7:25 a.m. ET on Tuesday and made his prediction for about 16 members of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club at Gobbler’s Knob.
Now when I turn to see there is a perfect shade. There will be six more weeks of winter, ”one of Phil’s executives announced on his behalf at the ceremony.
The annual ceremony was broadcast live this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Punxsutawney’s first Groundhog Day celebration was recorded in 1886, according to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club website.
Legend has it that we’ll have six more weeks of winter when groundhog Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow. If you don’t, spring will come early.
Predictions on Groundhog Day in the past
Phil is not new to the prediction game. The ceremony has been taking place since 1887.
Scientifically speaking, winter will officially end on the March 20 equinox, regardless of what Phil predicts. But mother nature doesn’t always follow the calendar.
In fact, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska and South Dakota have their snowiest time of year after Groundhog Day.
For the past two years in a row, Phil has not seen his shadow, predicting an early spring.
In the past, Phil was much more likely to see his shadow than not. He has reportedly seen his shadow 104 times, prior to this year, but he has not only seen his shadow 20 times. Statistically, Phil has been right about 50% of the time in his predictions over the past 10 years.
Groundhog Phil has many friends
Phil isn’t alone in his predictive skills. In fact, there are many others like him. States like Ohio, North Carolina, New York, Georgia, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Illinois, Maryland, West Virginia, and Michigan all have their own groundhog to make predictions.
Some of the more colorful names include Pierre C. Shadeaux from Louisiana, General Beauregard Lee from Georgia, and Staten Island Chuck from New York, just to name a few.
There’s also Nebraska-based Unadilla Bill, which has one of the highest accuracy ratings in the groundhog industry.
This means that if you don’t like Phil’s forecast, chances are some other groundhogs are predicting something you do like.