did the groundhog see his shadow 2011

Towns across America today have joined in paying tribute to ground hog day in the desire to figure out whether the country will see another six weeks of winter or if Spring will come early. The most famous of all the ground hogs is Pennsylvania's "Phil" and the town held it's breath as he appeared today.

The humble town held its annual Groundhog day celebration this morning, Feb 2ndand the results are in! The world’s most famous weather predicting groundhog, Phil, did NOT see his shadow this morning, so according to the folklore, good bye winter, hello early spring! According to Wikipedia, the holiday, which began as a Pennsylvania German custom in southeastern and central Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries, has its origins in ancient European weather lore, wherein a badger or sacred bear is the prognosticator as opposed to a groundhog.

So if myth is correct there will be an end to the harsh winter conditions and spring will come early!

ground hog day 2011

Ground Hog Day 2011 takes place tomorrow on February 2nd and the most well known of all groundhogs, Punxsutawney Phil will be making his yearly showing at the start of the day, around 7:25am. His fame is partly because he is Pennsylvanian and the first people who celebrated Ground Hog Day were the Germans of Pennsylvania.

Each year, massive crowds gather in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to watch Phil emerge from his burrow on Gobbler’s Knob. February 2nd occurs halfway between the first day of winter and the first day of spring. According to popular tradition and belief, if the groundhog sees his shadow there will be six more weeks of winter weather. If the day is cloudy and he doesn’t see his shadow, then the groundhog stays above the ground anticipating early spring weather.

So a fun day for all who have an affection for the creature and it will take place tomorrow.