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Each year on Groundhog Day, Feb. 2, thousands of revelers
gather in the town of Punxsutawney, about 80 miles northeast of
Pittsburgh, to witness a groundhog that has been designated as
"Phil" make his prediction.
As legend has it, if the little rodent sees his shadow on
Groundhog Day, Feb. 2, frigid and blustery weather will continue
for six weeks. If it is cloudy and no shadow appears, the onset
of spring is near.
"It don't look good guys," Bill Deeley, president of The
Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, told the crowd early on Thursday
after pulling Phil from his lair at Gobbler's Knob. "Ladies and
gentlemen, he has made his prediction."
The portly animal squirmed and bared his tiny teeth as his
audience cheered. One woman shouted, "We love you, Phil!"
As Phil appeared to gnaw on the glove of his handler, a
presenter wearing a top-hat and red bow tie read the weather
outlook: "My faithful followers, I clearly see, a perfect clear
shadow of me. Six more weeks of winter it shall be."
Groundhogs have been offering weather predictions in the tiny
Punxsutawney since 1887.
The annual Groundhog Day event, made more popular by the 1993
comedy film "Groundhog Day" starring Bill Murray, draws faithful
followers from as far away as Australia and Russia.
(Editing by Frances Kerry)
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