It’s February 2nd, a chilly morning in Pennsylvania. The crowd gathers. Cameras, microphones, and a wave of civilian cell phones turn on. The cheers begin, a slow rumble, getting louder and louder as he appears: Punxsutawney Phil, the celebrity, the icon, the legend.
The well-acclaimed meteorologist looked dashing as he exited his home, wearing a luscious brown coat of genuine fur. This is his big moment: the moment he determines whether or not winter will continue for another six weeks.
The crowd is wild with anticipation. He steps out into the morning sunshine, and with it is his shadow, announcing six more weeks of winter. The crowd goes wild and cheers him on before he scurries back into his home to prepare for next year’s events. “Punxsutawney Phil, you’ve still got it,” he says to himself.
Groundhog Day is a tradition observed in the United States and Canada, and it just so happens to be my favorite holiday in the whole wide world. The lore is derived from the Pennsylvania Dutch tradition that if a groundhog leaves his burrow and sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. However, if there is no shadow to be seen, spring will arrive early that year.
This whole shebang started with Candlemas —a Christian feast holiday that takes place on, you guessed it— February 2nd. It is celebrated in many places, including Germany. A lot of lore and superstitions surround this holiday, which led to the whole groundhog deal. Except the meteorologist animal traditionally used during Candlemas was not a groundhog, but a badger.
As the Pennsylvania Dutch continued this tradition, they introduced the groundhog into the equation. The very first Groundhog Day was said to have started as early as 1840, though the exact dates remain unknown. In 1886, the first official announcement of Groundhog Day was written in the Punxsutawney Spirit newspaper. A year later, a group of people gathered at Gobbler’s Knob, probably the start of the Groundhog Day traditions that we are familiar with today.
The crowd at Gobbler’s Knob can be as large as 40,000 people each year. The numbers rose greatly with the release of Groundhog Day, a 1993 dramedy starring Bill Murray. Bill Murray’s character, who happens to be cleverly named after everyone’s favorite groundhog Phil, finds himself in a time loop, having to relive the same day (Groundhog Day) over and over and over and over again. Not to mention it takes place in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.
However, supposedly supercentenarian Punxsutawney Phil is not the only forecasting groundhog out there. There are many others, including Dunkirk Dave, Buckeye Chuck, General Beauregard Lee, Staten Island Chuck, Chuckles IX, Chattanooga Chuck, Thistle the Whistle-Pig, Sir Walter Wally, Pierre C. Shadeux, and Grover the Groundhog.
Even though Groundhog Day 2023 is sadly over, we can continue to enjoy our prolonged winter and cooler weather for these next few weeks while thinking about all of the great weather-forecasting groundhogs out there in the world.
