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Groundhog Day 2010
At
7:30 AM EST on Tuesday, February 2, 2010 the world discovers if
Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow - predicting six more weeks
of winter!
Groundhog
Day : Can Spring Be Far Behind?
The
custom of predicting future weather conditions based on animals
dates back at least a thousand years, but using the weather on February
2nd to forecast a longer winter is more recent than that.
It was during
the Dark Ages in Europe that this widespread superstition took hold. Peasants
and nobles alike noticed a strong connection between a bright, sunny, medieval
Candlemas Day and long, dreary winter weather extending into the next 6 weeks:
If
Candlemas be fair and bright, Winter has another flight.
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain, Winter will not come again.
In
Germany, meanwhile, it was the hedgehog
that played a starring role in a similar belief. Farmers
waited for late winter to watch the hibernating animal to come out of his burrow.
If the hedgehog saw his shadow on a bright, sunlit day he quickly returned to
hibernate...and thus put the official stamp on a prediction of six more weeks
of winter for German farmers.
German settlers
later brought the old belief with them to Pennsylvania, replacing
the hedgehog with the more common American groundhog,
And the rest,
as they say, is Groundhog
Day history. In
popular culture, the 1993 film comedy Groundhog
Day was a major hit for star Bill
Murray, bringing Punxsutawney Phil's popularity to new heights. Today,
Pennsylvania-born groundhog Punxsutawney
Phil is a minor celebrity. This sleepy groundhog may be the most famous weather
forecaster in the USA. Each year, the world's paparazzi hold vigil in Punxsutawney,
Pennsylvania on February 2 as America waits with frosted breath for Phil to
emerge.
So... can
we count on an early spring in 2010? Or will there be six more
weeks of winter?
Only Punxsutawney
Phil's shadow knows...
Related Web Sites:
Climate-Watch,
Groundhog Day Special Report (shadow sightings back to 1887) Punxsutawney
Phil.com Driving
Directions to Punxsutawney, PA Groundhogs
Day Groundhog
Day E-Cards Groundhog
Day Lesson Plans, Games & Activities |