Groundhog Day 2009: Punxsutawney Phil Saw His Shadow

by Jon Azpiri | January 29, 2009 at 04:46 pm

9273 views | 12 Recommendations | 10 comments

February 2 is Groundhog Day, a holiday purports to predict the weather. Throughout North America, people look to the humble groundhog as something of a weather vane. According to lore, when a groundhog,comes out of its hole and see its shadow, then winter will continue for six more weeks. If the little guy comes out of his hole and doesn't his shadown, then winter will end sooner than that.

The most famous groundhog of all is Punxsutawney Phil, a groundhog living in the small Pennsylvania town of Punxsutawney. Each year, the town holds a huge festival honoring its favorite animal and the media comes en masse to see Phil's weather forecast. Punxsutawney Phil has been predicting the outcome of winter since 1887 and will continue the tradition again this year.

So how did Groundhog Day begin? There are various theories: some say that the holiday is a variation of Candlemas, the Christian holiday of lights. Many saw the weather on Candlemas Day, which is held on Feb. 2, an an indicator of future weather conditions.

If Candlemas Day be fair and bright
Winter will have another fight.
If Candlemas Day brings cloud and rain,
Winter won't come again.

If Candlemas Day be dry and fair,
The half o the winter's to come and mair;
If Candlemas Day be wet and foul,
The half o the winter's gane at Yule.

There's also this German proverb.

" The badger peeps out of his hole on Candlemas Day,
and, if he finds snow, walks abroad; but if he sees the sun shining he draws back into his hole."

Over the last decade or so, the holiday has increasingly become associated with the 1993 film Groundhog Day. In the film, Bill Murray plays a weatherman assigned to cover Punxsutawney's Groundhog Day and finds himself living the same day over and over again. The term "Groundhog Day" is now often used to describe a situation that keeps repeating itself.

UPDATE: So did the groundhog see his shadow? Punxsutawney Phil came out of his hole today, and the news isn't good. Phil saw his shadow, which means six more weeks of winter.

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visiblejoy

at 22:06 on January 29th, 2009

I took this photo last September at Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg, Manitoba. This little groundhog looked so overstuffed, like he just had a big early Thanksgiving meal. On the other hand, he may have known that we were heading for a long and bitter cold winter ahead, and was completely prepared for a peaceful hibernation! Smart and happy fellow! :)

visiblejoy has contributed a photo to this story.

Tea Leafs

at 03:35 on January 30th, 2009

ok by me if you use it...

Tea Leafs has contributed a photo to this story.

andyheckathorne

at 06:51 on January 30th, 2009

Penn State Food Services hosts special theme dinners throughout the year, and Groundhog Day provides another great opportunity to provide some fun for our students. Groundhog Day and Fear Factor collide this year to provide our theme, "Phil Factor."

andyheckathorne has contributed a photo to this story.

Daisy.Sue

at 07:50 on January 30th, 2009

Use the photo if you wish to! Looking for things to take photos of has slowed me down and has helped me enjoy life more.

This photo was taken by me when I walked a mile or two to Putnam County Veteran's Memorial Park, in Carmel,NY on August 8th 2008. The walk is a lot of up hill and very tiring on a hot day. When I sat down to rest on the grass this groundhog came out of the woods. He watched me and I watched him for about 5 minutes before I took his photo. It was fun to watch nature watch me.

Ashley Nicole (not verified)

at 17:04 on January 30th, 2009

Oh totally use it!! I love my little phil stuffed animal to death, and i love groundhogs day! Thanks for pickin out my photo of him!

lisa marie calderon (not verified)

at 13:35 on February 2nd, 2009

today's is groundhog day.6 more weeks until winter is over because one of the groundhog saw it's shadow.groundhogs are ssssoooo cute......dogs & puppies are ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cute.

bye.

nvss72

at 12:48 on January 31st, 2009

This is my neighbor. He lives out back, behind my house. His real name isn't Punxsutawney Phil.. It's Vladimir....

nvss72 has contributed a photo to this story.

erichews

at 06:22 on February 1st, 2009

I have it on good authority from a resident of Punxsy, that Phil doesn't even live in that little outdoor hut out of which they forcibly pluck him. Rather, he lives on display inside the town's library the rest of the year.

lisa marie calderon (not verified)

at 13:21 on February 2nd, 2009

i like your fhotos you have.the groundhog saw it's shadow today in 2009

lisa marie calderon (not verified)

at 13:37 on February 2nd, 2009

dogs & puppies are ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cute.

bye