Large parts of the USA have just recovered from the icy temperatures of the past few weeks – and the world-famous marmot Phil is now giving the country hope that spring will soon begin.
On Friday, the 138th Groundhog Day, the rodent from the small town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, was unable to see his shadow, a sign that the harsh winter will soon give way to a mild spring. Thousands cheered Phil in freezing temperatures following this forecast.
Tradition calls for members of the Inner Circle of the Groundhog Club to retrieve the groundhog from its tree stump at sunrise and question it. Phil has been making accurate predictions for over 130 years. The Groundhog Club explains that any discrepancy between the actual weather and Phil’s forecast is due to translation errors, not a misprediction. In fact, the groundhog is right in less than half of all cases – a coin toss would be a more accurate prediction.
The tradition celebrated worldwide on February 2nd was probably brought to Pennsylvania by German immigrants. She gained particular fame through the Hollywood film “Groundhog Day” from 1993, starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell.
