Happy Groundhog Day or is it? Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow which means 6 more weeks of winter. Now in a lot of the country this may not be a bad thing since it has been such a mild winter. Then again, if you are in the area that has been cold you many not want 6 more weeks of winter. Have you ever wondered how Groundhog Day got started? Well, I have some information on that.
Groundhog Day originated as an ancient celebration of the midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. Superstition has it that fair weather, at the midpoint, was seen as a warning of a stormy and cold second half to winter. Groundhog Day in the U.S. started in 1887 and since then Punxsutawney Phil's predictions have been interesting and very one sided. Phil has seen his shadow 102 times and has not seen his shadow only 17 times. Side note - there are nine missing years not recorded. According to Phil he has been 100% correct in his predictions but according to NOAA's National Climate Data Center Phil has been only about 80% correct. So, Phil says we have six more weeks of winter. I guess we will just have to wait and see! Happy Groundhog Day!
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