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Groundhog sees shadow

The groundhog has spoken: six more weeks of winter!

Every February 2 on Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania emerges from his hole to predict the fate of our next few weeks. The legend says if the groundhog sees its shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter and if not, spring is coming early. 

On Thursday morning Phil saw his shadow, predicting six more weeks of Winter. This prediction was communicated in “Groundhogese” to Phil’s “inner circle” who are in charge of caring for him and planning the Groundhog Day festivities in Punxsutawney. 

According to The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, the tradition has been running since 1886 with the same groundhog for 135 years, a seemingly impossible lifespan.

Phil even has some local rivals, including Staten Island Chuck from the Staten Island Zoo, who did not see his shadow and predicted an early spring. Staten Island Chuck has had an 80% accuracy rate thus far.

Interestingly, Phil has more often been wrong in his prediction than right, with a less than 50% accuracy. So while he predicted six more weeks of winter, maybe we should plan for an early spring instead.

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