Here’s the full story of Groundhog Day and Punxsutawney Phil
If you’re hoping to know just how long winter will last each year, get yourself to Gobbler’s Knob and meet Punxsutawney Phil on Groundhog.
If you don’t know what any of that means, have no fear. There’s absolutely no real reason why you should have to.
But you would be missing out on one of the most bizarre, charming and cute traditions on the Eastern seaboard of the USA.
You also, presumably, have missed out on one of the greatest high-concept fantasy romcoms ever made – but who’s to say which of those is worse?
Here’s everything you need to know about the Groundhog Day celebration and Punxsutawney Phil’s predictions.
What is Groundhog Day?
Groundhog Day has its roots in the folklore of the Pennsylvania Dutch, an ethnic group with German origins in the US and Canada who have their own language and strong traditions.
One of the group’s superstitions dictates that if a groundhog (also known as a woodchuck) emerges from its burrow on February 2 and sees its shadow, it means there will be six more weeks of winter.
If the groundhog does not see its shadow, good news: spring will arrive early.
Similar beliefs involving different animals that tend to hibernate over the winter exist around the world, but it’s the Pennsylvania Dutch version that’s best known.
Wherever groundhogs live in the US and Canada, people will gather today to see their reaction when they come out of the ground. But most of the focus will be on one place in particular.
Who is Punxsutawney Phil, and what role does he play?
The best-known ambassador for Groundhog Day is Punxsutawney Phil, who resides in the Pennsylvania town after which he is named.
Phil is the town’s own weather-predicting groundhog, and if you believe his handlers, he has been alive for around 140 years.
Each year on February 2, he swaggers out from his burrow at Gobbler’s Knob and whispers to a man in a top hat and tails whether he’s seen his shadow, in a language termed ‘Groundhogese’.
That man – the president of the Inner Circle, as he is known – will then announce the result to a cheering crowd.
What was Punxsutawney Phil’s verdict for 2026?
Punxsutawney Phil has predicted six more weeks of wintry weather after he saw his shadow this year.
His annual prediction was translated by his handlers at Gobbler’s Knob in western Pennsylvania.
The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club says that when Phil is deemed to have not seen his shadow, that means there will be an early spring. When he does see it, it’s six more weeks of winter.
Phil tends to predict a longer winter far more often than an early spring.
Last year’s announcement was six more weeks of winter, by far Phil’s most common assessment and not much of a surprise during the first week of February.
His top-hatted handlers in the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club insist Phil’s ‘groundhogese’ of winks, purrs, chatters and nods are being interpreted when they relate the meteorological marmot’s musings about the days ahead.
What’s the connection to the film ‘Groundhog Day’?
If all that sounds unbearably twee, then you have a kindred spirit in Phil Connors, the cynical weatherman played by Bill Murray in the 1993 classic Groundhog Day.
He is sent along to the Punxsutawney ceremony along with his cameraman and producer for a tiresome news item, but ends up living the same day over and over again.
The film brought global attention to the Pennsylvania town and the tradition itself.
If you’re not planning to mark it in any other way, it’s never a bad idea to give it another watch.
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