America's top groundhog predicts 6 more weeks of winter

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Monday is Groundhog's Day, and Punxsutawney Phil, the Pennsylvania groundhog America strangely relies on to forecast the weather, saw his shadow. That means, according to lore, that America can look forward to six more long weeks of winter. Phil's record dates back to 1887, minus nine years, and the Punxsutawney mascot has seen his shadow 101 of those years, versus 17 Groundhog Days where he didn't. But hey, we all got a great Bill Murray movie out of the tradition.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.