Get ready for an early spring!
Straight from the official Punxsutawney website:
Phil Says Expect an Early Spring!
Phil’s official forecast as read February 2nd, 2011, at sunrise at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, PA:
Here Ye, Hear Ye, Hear Ye
Groundhog Day, February 2, 2011Punxsutawney Phil was raised from his burrowBy the call of President Bill Deeley.He greeted his handlers, Ben Hughes and John Griffiths.
After casting an inquisitive eye towards thousands of his faithful followers,He proclaimed that the Steelers are going to the Super Bowl!
Back to the business at hand…He surveyed his surroundings carefully and found that there was no shadow around, So, an early spring it will be.
Phil’s official forecast as read February 2nd, 2011, at sunrise at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, PA:
Here Ye, Hear Ye, Hear Ye
Groundhog Day, February 2, 2011Punxsutawney Phil was raised from his burrowBy the call of President Bill Deeley.He greeted his handlers, Ben Hughes and John Griffiths.
After casting an inquisitive eye towards thousands of his faithful followers,He proclaimed that the Steelers are going to the Super Bowl!
Back to the business at hand…He surveyed his surroundings carefully and found that there was no shadow around, So, an early spring it will be.
It’s a little counterintuitive that Phil not seeing its shadow bodes well for early spring; you’d think sunny days and their shadows would herald warm weather on the horizon.
Here’s the National Geographic explanation for the groundhog weather tradition:
According to the official Punxsutawney Phil Groundhog Day Web site, Groundhog Day is the result of a blend of ancient Christian and Roman customs that came together in Germany.
In the early days of Christianity in Europe, clergy would distribute blessed candles to the faithful on February 2 in honor of Candlemas, a holiday celebrating the Virgin Mary’s presentation of Jesus at the Temple in Jerusalem 40 days after his birth.
Along the way, February 2 also became associated with weather prediction, perhaps due to its proximity to the pagan Celtic festival of Imbolc—also a time of meteorological superstition—which falls on February 1.
Tradition held that the weather on Candlemas was important: Clear skies meant an extended winter.
Legend has it that the Romans also believed that conditions during the first days of February were good predictors of future weather, but the empire looked to hedgehogs for their forecasts.
These two traditions melded in Germany and were brought over to the United States by German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania. Lacking hedgehogs, the German settlers substituted native groundhogs in the ritual, and Groundhog Day was born.
In the early days of Christianity in Europe, clergy would distribute blessed candles to the faithful on February 2 in honor of Candlemas, a holiday celebrating the Virgin Mary’s presentation of Jesus at the Temple in Jerusalem 40 days after his birth.
Along the way, February 2 also became associated with weather prediction, perhaps due to its proximity to the pagan Celtic festival of Imbolc—also a time of meteorological superstition—which falls on February 1.
Tradition held that the weather on Candlemas was important: Clear skies meant an extended winter.
Legend has it that the Romans also believed that conditions during the first days of February were good predictors of future weather, but the empire looked to hedgehogs for their forecasts.
These two traditions melded in Germany and were brought over to the United States by German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania. Lacking hedgehogs, the German settlers substituted native groundhogs in the ritual, and Groundhog Day was born.
And, finally, here’s the video of this morning’s groundhog ceremony:
