Punxsutawney Phil

For those of you who have seen the film Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray, you will know that on this day every year Punxsutawney Phil the Groundhog predicts the weather forecast for the next six weeks. What you may not realise, is that this is a real ceremony that takes place every year in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania on the 2nd February.

On this day, Punxsutawney Phil the Groundhog is woken from his temporary burrow – a simulated tree stump at the rural site of Gobbler’s Knob – and, so the legend tells, if he sees his shadow then we will have six more weeks of winter. On the other hand, if he does not see his shadow then we will have an early spring and temperatures will rise.

The forecast is read by Phil’s handlers and interpreters as they translate Phil’s prediction from Groundhogese for us to find out what the groundhog’s prediction is. We can report that this morning over in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania – Punxsutawney Phil did indeed wake from his slumbers and this is what his interpreter had to say:

This February Punxsutawney Phil, the seer of seers, prognosticator of prognosticators emerged reluctantly, but alertly in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania and stated in Groundhogese, “I definitely see a shadow.” Sorry, folks - six more weeks of winter.

Therefore, we are sorry to report, no early spring this year!

This year’s prediction proved so popular that Punxsutawney Phil’s website http://groundhog.org crashed because of the sheer volume of visitors. It seems everyone wants in on Phil’s predictions. Somehow, I cannot see Fred the Weatherman having as much interest on Granda Reports!