Pennsylvania’s most famous groundhog has spoken this Sunday: “Spring will come early, it is a certainty.”
At dawn of Groundhog Day, members of the Marmota Club inner circle, who say that this animal is usually between 75% and 90%, dressed in a top hat, revealed Phil’s prediction, number 134, according to the Pennsylvania Tourist Office.
Awakened by the songs of the crowd of “Phil!”, The groundhog was hoisted in the air for the assembly to greet before making his decision. He then grabbed a guide’s glove when a member of the association announced that spring would arrive earlier this year.
The annual event has its origin in a German legend that says that if a furry rodent casts a shadow on February 2, winter will continue. If not, spring will arrive early.
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Actually, Phil’s prediction is decided by the group at Gobbler’s Knob, a small hill on the outskirts of Punxsutawney, approximately 65 miles (105 kilometers) northeast of Pittsburgh.
In the last five years, from 2015 to 2019, Phil has forecast six more weeks of winter three times and early spring twice. According to records dating back to 1887, the Pennsylvania rodent has forecast winter more than 100 times, which makes this year’s forecast unusual.
Phil’s prediction was reflected by one of his fellow marmots in New York. At the Staten Island Zoo, schoolchildren and elected officials cheered on Sunday morning when a curtain was removed in a glass enclosure containing Staten Island Chuck. Nor did he see his shadow.
This tradition is celebrated in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, and every year about 40,000 people are eager to know whether to keep their coats or not yet. According to a study published in 2001 in the magazine of the Mathematical Association of the USA, The College Mathematics Journal, in 70.4% of the occasions the groundhog has been right in the prediction.
Although it is a centennial event, its popularity was driven by the film Caught in time, starring Bill Murray and released in 1993. The expression live or be “on Groundhog Day” is due to the awakening in loop on the same February 2. The actor returned to iconic role for this Sunday’s SuperBowl.
Celebration in Mexico
February 2 is a very different day in Mexico. It is the religious holiday known as Candlemas Day that is celebrated 40 days after Christmas and commemorates the presentation of Jesus in the temple of Jerusalem. Throughout Mexico on this day of the year, people wear figures of the Infant Jesus with special costumes, take them to the church to be blessed and meet with family and friends to eat tamales, as a continuation of the Three Kings Day festivities January 6th.
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Winter will last six more weeks. Groundhog Phil says so
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