Punxsutawney Phil: Is He Right This Time?

The tiny weather forecaster Punxsutawney Phil from Philadelphia has predicted an early spring. If the groundhog doesn’t see his shadow, that means it is an early spring. If he does see his shadow, then it will be six more weeks of winter, the legend states. The legend also states that only the President of the Groundhog Club can understand Punxsutawney Phil.

The groundhog emerged from its den around 7:20 am on Feb. 2, announcing in “groundhogese” to Bill Deeley, president of the “Inner Circle.”

Don’t get too excited, though. The groundhog accuracy is only about 45%, according to The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Of course spring technically starts around March 20th, but the prediction is to whether February and March will be warm or the typical winter. Some say flipping a coin is correct as Phil.

“This is pitiful. A thousand people freezing their butts off waiting to worship a rat. What a hype,” Bill Murray said in the film “Groundhog Day.”

Other states depend on other groundhogs to predict their weather forecasts; for example, there’s New York’s Staten Island Chuck. And sometimes, these tiny meteorologists don’t always close on the same thing, either.

Also, the groundhog isn’t always correct. Remember when the rodent predicted an early spring and it was wrong and the prosecuting attorney in Butler County, Ohio, went so far seek the death penalty for Phil for “misrepresentation of early spring.”. Fortunately, a Pennsylvania firm came in defense for the rodent claiming that they have no jurisdiction to prosecute poor Phil.

This is a special occasion considering that Phil has seen his shadow more than he hasn’t. Phil has seen his shadow 102 times and has not seen his shadow 17 times, and there is no record of his predictions ten times, since 1887, according to USA Today

Last year, Phil had predicted six more weeks of winter and received a mix grade for his prediction of 2015. The nation had a slightly below-average February, it had a warmer-than-average March.

Featured Image by Anthony Quintano via Flickr 

Diamond Simmons is a passionate writer to enjoys giving her readers food for thought. Writing transformed from a simple hobby into a lifestyle. From politics to crime, Simmons is very versatile in writing different topics.