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Punxsutawney Phil, the famous groundhog, has predicted six more weeks of winter for America as he gave his weather forecast in Pennsylvania.
A big crowd was in attendance at Gobbler’s Knob as the woodchuck was ushered out of his tree stump to deliver his prediction.
Keeping a close eye on their furry friend, the top-hatted handlers said Phil saw his shadow, meaning a prediction of six more weeks of wintry weather.
The ritual goes back more than a century – with far older roots in European folklore – and was made famous by Bill Murray’s 1993 movie Groundhog Day.
The scroll with the woodchuck’s prediction is shown to the crowd. Pic: Reuters
If the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club members declare Phil does not see his shadow, that is said to usher in an early spring. If he does see it, it’s six more weeks of winter, so the saying goes.
What that means can be subjective, however.
And it may surprise, but Phil isn’t always accurate either. He has predicted a longer winter far more often than an early spring, and one effort to track his accuracy concluded he was right less than 50% of the time…
“Phil’s made a choice!” it was announced as the woodchuck was carefully lifted off his stump, getting some affectionate pets from his handler.
People pose with Groundhog Club’s Inner Circle Vice President Dan McGinley. Pic: Reuters
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“Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye,” the announcer called to the crowd, hailing Phil as the “seer of seers” and “the prognosticator of all prognosticators”.
And then, apparently relaying the words communicated by the woodchuck in ‘groundhogese’ on a scroll, he continued in poem: “I miss my burrow, I miss my coop, so I’m headed back down…
“There’s a shadow up here, get ready for six more weeks of winter this year!”
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