Here's how accurate Punxsutawney Phil has actually been over the years
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Here's something we probably all could have predicted: It seems that Punxsutawney Phil, Pennsylvania's famous weather-predicting groundhog, is "right" about half the time.
The Washington Post put 30 years of Phil's forecasts to the test by calculating the average daily temperatures during the six weeks after Groundhog Day in various regions of the United States. The results "show that while Phil was technically right more times than not in some cities, the average temperatures between shadow and non-shadow years were slight at best."
The Post compared the accuracy of the groundhog's shadow foreshadowing to a person "winning" his last coin toss.
Article continues belowThe Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
