What is Ground Hog Day?
Every Feb. 2 the citizens of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, and tourists from all over the country eagerly await the emergence of the town’s groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, from his hollow. This tradition is based on the long-standing myth that if the groundhog sees it’s shadow because of clear weather, winter will last for another six weeks. If the groundhog does not see his shadow then winter will end early. Although having been an annual ritual in America since 1887, Phil’s forecast has only been correct 39 percent of the time. Despite this fact, the town is still known as the “weather capital of the world,” and the event’s popularity has shown no signs of waning. Punxsutawney Phil isn’t the only weather-predicting groundhog in the country. Other famous prognosticating woodchucks include Staten Island Chuck in New York City; General Beauregard Lee in Snellville; Georgia and French Creek Freddy in West Virginia. Louisiana sports it’s own unique forecaster, Claude the Crawfish. The Groundh
From the link below: “The celebration of Groundhog Day began with Pennsylvania’s earliest settlers. They brought with them the legend of Candlemas Day, which states, “For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day, so far will the snow swirl in May…” I never thought much about Groundhog Day until the Bill Murray movie came out. It’s a great movie, we can watch it any time of the year.