Groundhog Day 2022: Did Punxsutawney Phil See His Shadow?

PUNXSUTAWNEY, PA — The country’s premier Groundhog Day celebration Wednesday morning was once again an in-person event that drew a crush of visitors and reporters to Gobbler’s Knob in western Pennsylvania at the exact moment Punxsutawney Phil predicted whether we’ll have to endure six more weeks of winter.

The famous rodent meteorologist made his prediction around 7:30 a.m. local time on Gobbler’s Knob. Phil's prediction: We'll have six more weeks of winter.

As the Groundhog Day legend goes, if the groundhog sees its shadow, it's regarded as an omen for six more weeks of bad weather and he returns to his den. If not, it means spring will come early and the groundhog remains above ground.

This isn’t scientific, of course, just some pre-spring silliness to get your mind off blizzards, polar vortexes and such until spring officially arrives with the vernal equinox on March 20. AccuWeather meteorologists put more science than the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club into figuring out when meteorological spring will arrive.

“I think this year, he is not going to see his shadow, and spring will be around the corner,” AccuWeather lead U.S. long-range forecaster Paul Pastelok said in the private weather company’s pre-Groundhog Day 2022 spring weather forecast.

But don’t put away the snow gear and shovels, especially in the northern tier of U.S. states, which could see significant weather events over the next several weeks, Pastelok said in AccuWeather’s spring outlook.

If the groundhog sees its shadow, "it doesn't mean that we're not going to see any significant winter weather coming our way, at least in the northern tier of the U.S., for the next several weeks," Pastelok said.

There are various ways to watch the pampered groundhog make the prediction without traveling to Gobbler’s Knob, located a couple of miles outside of Punxsutawney.

It’s unclear if PETA — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — was on hand. The animal rights group habitually raises concerns about the use of a live groundhog, this year suggesting replacing Punxsutawney Phil with persimmon seeds. Not unexpectedly, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club rebuffed that idea.

• Punxsutawney Phil Prompts Skirmish With PETA

Enterprising Punxsutawney residents organized the first Groundhog Day celebration in 1887 around a tradition that early 19th century settlers brought to Pennsylvania from Germany.

Clymer Freas, the editor of the The Punxsutawney Spirit newspaper, came up with the idea in 1886 and convinced the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, a group of businessmen and groundhog hunters, that it was a solid one. They traded groundhogs for hedgehogs, the marmot used in the German celebration, but the idea behind the observance remains unchanged: If the varmint sees its shadow, more winter is in sight; if not, spring is near.

The earliest of Feb. 2 celebrations had nothing to do with groundhogs or hedgehogs. Today’s lighthearted festivals around marmots borrow heavily from the ancient European Christian celebration known as Candlemas Day, “commemorating the occasion when the Virgin Mary, in obedience to Jewish law, went to the Temple in Jerusalem both to be purified 40 days after the birth of her son, Jesus, and to present him to God as her firstborn (Luke 2:22–38),” according to Encyclopedia Britannica.

According to tradition, religious leaders blessed candles used during the winter and passed them out on Feb. 2, the midpoint between the winter solstice and spring equinox. If the candles were distributed under clear, sunny skies, the remainder of winter would be a rough ride. But if the day was gray and cloudy, spring was on the way.

Punxsutawney Phil was introduced at the inaugural U.S. Groundhog Day in 1887, and a groundhog has looked for its shadow every year under that name, sealing the “holiday” in our America’s cultural heritage. A groundhog was pulled from the ground that first year and saw its shadow on Gobbler’s Knob. The prediction was right for a few regions of Pennsylvania, but not the entire state.

The groundhog has gotten it wrong six out of the last 10 years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But give the varmint a break, NOAA says, noting on a webpage for all things Groundhog Day:

“Predicting the arrival of spring for an entire country, especially one with such varied regional climates as the United States, isn’t easy!”