Americans are braced for six more weeks of winter after Punxsutawney Phil – the rodent weather forecaster who makes his annual prediction on Groundhog Day – ruled out an early spring.
Groundhog handler John Griffiths holds Punxsutawney Phil
In a ceremony made famous by the 1993 film Groundhog Day, the beaver-like animal was watched as he emerged from his lair on Gobbler's Knob, a small hill in the town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. He was judged to have seen his shadow when he came out at dawn, ushering in six more weeks of winter.
Phil's predictions are reported by meteorologists to be correct between 75 and 90 per cent of the time.
However, this year may be one in which he is proved wrong. The East Coast of the United States has been basking in unseasonably warm temperatures, and no major snow falls are expected in February.
Around 20,000 people watched the ceremony just before 7.30am, many dressed in top hats and tuxedos, on a morning which was around 10 degrees warmer than usual.
The tradition began in 1886, and is rooted in an old German superstition which says that if a hibernating animal casts a shadow on February 2 – the Christian holiday of Candlemas – then winter will stay for another six weeks.
2 comments:
What kind of nonsense is that leading sentence?
"In a ceremony made famous by the 1993 film Groundhog Day,"
Phil AND Groundhog Day were famous long before Bill Murray and this writer were even born.
I read the groundhog is only accurate 39% of the time.
Post a Comment