PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. — Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of wintry weather Monday, a forecast sure to disappoint many after what’s already been a long, cold season across large parts of the United States.
His annual prediction and announcement that he had seen his shadow was translated by his handlers in the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club at Gobbler’s Knob in western Pennsylvania.
The news was greeted with a mix of cheers and boos from the tens of thousands who braved temperatures in the single-digits Fahrenheit to await the annual prognostication. The extreme cold kept the crowd bundled up and helped keep people on the main stage dancing.
Usually guests can come up on stage and take pictures of Phil after his prediction, but this year the announcer said it was too cold for that and his handlers were afraid to keep him out too long. Instead, the audience was asked to come to the stage, turn around and “do a selfie.”
The club says that when Phil is deemed to have not seen his shadow, that means there will be an early spring. When he does see it, it’s six more weeks of winter. Phil tends to predict a longer winter far more often than an early spring.
The annual ritual goes back more than a century, with ties to ancient farming traditions in Europe. Punxsutawney’s festivities have grown considerably since the 1993 movie “Groundhog Day,” starring Bill Murray.
Lisa Gibson was at her 10th Groundhog Day, wearing a lighted hat that resembled the tree stump from which Phil emerges shortly after daybreak.
“Oh man, it just breaks up the doldrums of winter,” said Gibson, accompanied by her husband — dressed up as Elvis Presley — and teenage daughter. “It’s like Halloween and New Year’s Eve all wrapped up into one holiday.”
Gibson, a resident of Pittsburgh, had been rooting for Phil to not see his shadow.
Rick Siger, Pennsylvania’s secretary of community and economic development, said the outdoor thermometer in his vehicle read 4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 15 degrees Celsius) on his way to Gobbler’s Knob.
“I think it’s just fun — folks having a good time,” said Siger, attending his fourth straight Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney. “It brings people together at a challenging time. It is a unifying force that showcases the best of Pennsylvania, the best of Punxsutawney, this area.”
Last year’s announcement was six more weeks of winter, by far Phil’s more common assessment and not much of a surprise during the first week of February. His top-hatted handlers in the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club insist Phil’s “groundhogese” of winks, purrs, chatters and nods are being interpreted when they relate the meteorological marmot’s muses about the days ahead.
AccuWeather’s chief long-range weather expert, meteorologist Paul Pastelok, said early Monday some clouds moved into Punxsutawney overnight, bringing flurries he called “microflakes.”
Pastelok said the coming week will remain cold, with below-average temperatures in the eastern United States.
Phil isn’t the only animal being consulted for long-term weather forecasts Monday. There are formal and informal Groundhog Day events in many places in the U.S., Canada and beyond.
Groundhog Day falls on Feb. 2, the midpoint between the shortest, darkest day of the year on the winter solstice and the spring equinox. It’s a time of year that also figures in the Celtic calendar and the Christian holiday of Candlemas.
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Scolforo reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, McCormack from Concord, New Hampshire.