Punxsutawney Phil predicts six more weeks of winter

Punxsutawney Phil, the Pennsylvanian groundhog tasked with predicting the forecast every year, projected six more weeks of winter on Wednesday after seeing his own shadow.

While the annual ceremony had been limited in size last year due to the pandemic, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that tens of thousands of people gathered in the snow in Punxsutawney, Pa., to see what the famous groundhog would predict.

Time will tell whether Phil was right in his forecast this year. The more than 130-year-old American tradition dictates that if the designated groundhog sees their shadow, then winter will trudge on for another six weeks. If the groundhog doesn’t see its shadow, then spring will come early.

“Today our weather prognosticating groundhog sent a clear message — winter is here to stay for six more weeks,” Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) said, according to KYW-TV. “Each year on Feb. 2, people from around the world turn to our beloved Punxsutawney for the official word from Phil and get to revel in the magic of the day.”

This is the second year in a row that Phil has seen his own shadow. Historically, the groundhog in Punxsutawney usually sees his own shadow. As the Inquirer noted, the groundhogs have been accurate in their predictions less than half the time, with forecasts being correct about 39 percent of the time.