Punxsutawney Phil to Predict the Weather

Groundhog day is an old tradition in the United States, based on the theory that if the groundhog comes out of his hole to look for his shadow and sees it there will be six more long weeks of winter, and he will return to his hole. However if he doesn't catch a glimpse of it he stays above ground, and spring is approaching us.

This is an ethnic tradition going centuries back in time. The old Scottish rhyme goes:

"If Candlemas day be dry and fair, The half O' winter to come and mair.

If Candlemas day be wet and foul, The half of winter's gone at Yule"

Legend has it that the Roman's presented this tradition to the German's. Pennsylvania's earliest settlers were of German origin, and were the first settlers to decide that the groundhog was the most intelligent animal to "predict" the weather, and this tradition has been carried out ever since. The German people had their own rhyme that went like this:

"For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day, So far will the snow swirl until the May"

However New England farmers knew that we were not close to the end of winter, no matter how cloudy February 2nd was. Indeed, February 2nd is often the heart of winter. If the farmer didn't have half his hay remaining, there may have been lean times for the cows before spring and fresh grass arrived, according to the groundhog.org history site.

Today thousands of people from all over go to Pennsylvania to observe Punxsutawney Phil, the name given to the famous groundhog, predict the weather. He has become famous, and is noted for wearing a yellow ribbon in 1981 to honor the American hostages in Iran, in 1986 Punxsutawney Phil met President Reagan, in 1993 the movie "Groundhog Day" was aired starring Bill Murray, and he met Oprah Winfrey in 1995, to mention a few.

So, will Punxsutawney Phil see his shadow this year or not? February 2nd is his day to be the weatherman.