Weather & Radar
Home / Editor's Pick /

Early spring on the way!

12:30 PM
February 2, 2024

Phil said it himself
Early spring on the way!

Rewatch the live feed to see Phil's official forecast!Rewatch the live feed to see Phil's official forecast!

The world's most famous weather-predicting groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, has made his forecast. After not seeing his shadow, Phil is predicting an early spring! But how accurate is a forecast from a groundhog?

Every year on Feb. 2, thousands of people gather in Punxsutawney, Penn., to watch Phil emerge from his burrow at Gobbler's Knob. So how does Phil "predict" the weather? If he sees his shadow, six more weeks of winter are predicted. If he doesn't see his shadow, then spring will be off to an early start. This morning, the WeatherRadar showed chilly but cloudy conditions in Gobbler's Knob.

Thursday at 7:25 a.m. EST, Punxsutawney Phil didn't see his shadow, and the prediction is for an early spring. This event has been ongoing since 1877, and in that time, Phil has seen his shadow more than 100 times, thus predicting more winter. Phil has only predicted an early spring 20 times, the last time being in 2020. So this makes for 21 times!

The tradition of Groundhog Day is thought to have been brought to Pennsylvania by German settlers. Groundhog Day may have evolved from a German celebration called Candlemas. During Candlemas, if the sun made an appearance on a mid-winter day and a hedgehog cast a shadow, then there would be six more weeks of winter.

Weather & Radar USA editorial team
More on the topic
Happy Earth Day
Tuesday, April 22, 2025

Employ renewable energy

Earth Day 2025 - Our Power, Our Planet
Saturday, March 29, 2025

As Spring continues

UV forecasts in the app
Saturday, May 3, 2025

May astronomy outlook

Meteor shower and the Flower Moon
All weather news
This might also interest you
Sunday, May 18, 2025

12 years without

EF-5 Drought continues
Wednesday, May 14, 2025

Flood threat lingers

Northeast showers
Friday, May 16, 2025

Breakfast Brief

Severe weather outbreak on the way
All articles
Weather & Radar

www.weatherandradar.com

instagramfacebookthreadsContact uslinkList
Privacy policy | Legal info