It's Groundhog Day! ..More Winter or Early Spring?
Thousands of onlookers in the western Pennsylvania town of Punxsutawney watched in the cold this morning as Punxsutawney Phil popped out of his hole in the ground to make his annual Groundhog Day appearance. He lept up into the arms of one of the tuxedoed men helping out with the annual ceremony, and proclaimed to KDKA-TV Channel 2 news "Keep your winter coats on, because La Nina told me she's gonna keep the U.S. East coast in the deep freeze for at least 6 more weeks of winter."
Apparently the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center's "La Nina Outlook" made it into Phil's mail slot last week, and he studied it well. "Don't blame me," Phil said. "Blame La Nina, she's nasty!"
German tradition holds that if a hibernating animal cast a shadow on Feb. 2 — the Christian holiday of Candlemas — winter would last another six weeks. If no shadow was seen, legend said spring would come early.
Since 1887, Phil has seen his shadow 97 times, hasn't seen it 15 times, and there are no records for nine years, according to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.
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