Groundhog Makes His 2016 Prediction

With reporting by LIZ TAURASI (Patch Staff)

FRAMINGHAM, MA - On Tuesday morning, Feb. 2, as they have for years, people gathered in Punxsutawney, PA to watch as Punxsutawney Phil left his burrow to observe the weather and look for his shadow. Its a prediction many across the country have been looking forward to following the unprecedented winter storms across the East Coast.

And Phil did not see his shadow, meaning a prediction of an early spring.

It’s welcome news in Virginia, where some are still looking at large piles of snow from the more than 2 feet that fell in the 2016 blizzard.

Groundhog Day history tells us if the groundhog sees his shadow, he takes it as an omen of six more weeks of winter and returns to his hole. If he comes out of hibernation and it’s a cloudy day, there’s no shadow, and it means spring is coming early.

In 2015, Phil predicted six more weeks of winter. He had the same prediction in 2014. In 2013, it was an early spring. In 2012, it was six more weeks of winter.