Will he or won’t he? We’re getting closer to the moment when Punxsutawney Phil will offer up his prediction as to when spring will arrive. FOX News Senior Meteorologist Janice Dean is there speaking with the excited crowd to get their thoughts on the big event.
PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. – Crowds gathered in Pennsylvania on Sunday, waiting for Punxsutawney Phil to awake and hint at more winter or an early spring.
The sun rose above Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, at 7:24 a.m. EST Sunday, kicking off the annual tradition of looking to a woodchuck for signs of spring.
As Phil emerged from his winter slumber, the woodchuck stood up on a stump and saw his shadow. As the legend goes, Phil’s prognostication indicates Americans are in for six more weeks of winter.
Sunday marked the 139th anniversary of the groundhog prognosticator’s tradition, which has been happening since the 1880s.
FILE: Groundhog handler AJ Derume holds Punxsutawney Phil, who saw his shadow, predicting a late spring during the 136th annual Groundhog Day festivities on February 2, 2022 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.
(Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The tradition of celebrating Groundhog Day started as a Christian holiday. Pennsylvania Germans began celebrating it in the late 1880s by eating groundhogs, hunting and having picnics.
While the woodchuck’s prediction is a celebrated tradition, Phil does not usually get the forecast right, with only a 39% accuracy rate. Over the past decade, only three out of 10 predictions have been correct.