Groundhog Day: American Tradition

Phil, the American groundhog, is supposed to predict the annual arrival of spring. Today, he announced six more weeks of winter by seeing his shadow and being spooked back into his house for some more hibernation and laziness.

While the eastern United States took advantage of unusually high temperatures for early February, the groundhog, Phil, has "seen his shadow " Thursday morning after leaving the den where it hibernated in Pennsylvania, unmistakable sign of a longer winter. According to tradition groundhog day is the day that the groundhog decides to keep hibernating through the winter. If he is spooked by his shadow, then there are six more weeks of Winter. Contrary to popular belief, winter is still upon us for a few more weeks.

The meteorologist’s tradition, which falls every year on February 2, was imported to the United States by German farmers who relied on animal behavior to know when to sow their fields. The town of Punxsutawney, where Phil has his burrow, had observed the tradition since the nineteenth century.

If the groundhog sees his shadow, because the day is sunny, the Groundhog Club of Punxsutawney concludes that winter will last another six weeks and may return the mammal to hibernation. But when it's overcast, Phil sees no shadow, and everyone can rejoice, because Winter is over!

Since its inception, the Groundhog Day has become a media phenomenon in the United States, where thousands of people - and dozens of journalists - converge on the town of Punxsutawney to witness the event. Groundhog Day events also occur in other parts of the country and Canada. A movie was even filmed on the subject, Groundhog Day (1993) starring Bill Murray as the jaded journalist who is covering the event. It was a comedy that kept replaying the same day over and over.