(Image via Britannica)

Staff Writer: Skyler Pereyra

Email: spereyra@umassd.edu

The results are in! Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow after emerging from the ground on February 2nd, indicating another six weeks of winter. 

And boy, isn’t that how the story has gone recently?

The tradition stems from Pennsylvania Dutch/German immigrants who arrived in the country in the 17th-19th centuries. February 2 was historically observed as Candlemas, a Christian holy day recognizing the occasion when Joseph and Mary brought the infant Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem.

On this day, Christians would take candles to the church to have them blessed in hopes of bringing blessings to their household for the winter. When the tradition was brought over to Germany, it was mixed with folkloric elements related to weather prediction. 

In Germany, they used multiple creatures for the holiday, like badgers, foxes, and even bears, but when they migrated, they needed a more readily available animal to rely on. Thus came the groundhog. 

Mentions of the holiday in early American history showed up in 1840, but the first reported celebration occurred in 1886, with an official holiday declaration a year later. 

The lore claims “that a magical elixir enables the same groundhog to live eternally.” However, the groundhog praised in Pennsylvania isn’t the only one predicting weather in the United States.

One website claims that there are 80 active groundhogs in the United States used to predict the weather. Some of these include Jimmy the Groundhog from Wisconsin, Concord Charlie from West Virginia, and Woody the Woodchuck from Michigan. 

Another website tracks statistics on all these groundhogs and how accurate their weather-predicting abilities are. In first place is Staten Island Chuck from New York with an 85% accuracy rate, whereas Pennsylvania’s Punxsutawney Phil is in 17th place with a 35% accuracy rate. 

Despite Phil’s inconsistencies, Punxsutawney, PA, hosts one of the largest Groundhog Day celebrations in the country. 

The town has the Groundhog Club’s Inner Circle (AKA Phil’s Protectors), a group of local men in top hats and tuxedos who are “responsible for planning the events” and taking care of Phil year-round. 

In a YouTube video by TODAY, Butch Philliber, the Inner Circle’s historian, who has been a member since 1988, explained that the reason for their fancy attire is “in recognition of Phil as the king of all weather prophets.” 

Their celebration starts at 3AM and is held around Phil’s home, Gobbler’s Knob, where concession stands, information booths, a bonfire, and a community of “Phil Phans” gather until about 7:30AM for him to see his shadow and predict the next six weeks. 

Phil’s popularity brought around 20,000-30,000 visitors from all over the country to the small town of Punxsutawney in 2026. One source claims that the event brings over a million dollars every year to the local economy. 

Multiple places around the country rely on taxidermied groundhogs for their predictions and others rely on living beings outside of the groundhog family. In Nantucket, MA, Quentin the Quahog has been used since 1982. 

At the ceremony, Quentin’s shell is opened typically by the Nantucket Harbormaster. If he squirts to the left, it signals six additional weeks of winter; if he squirts to the right, it predicts an early spring. Once the forecast is made, Quentin is eaten, so a new “Quentin” is selected each year.

From 2006 to 2022, Snohomish, Washington used the croaks of a bullfrog named Snohomish Slew. If it croaked during the ceremony it was believed to predict an early spring but if it stood silent it meant another six weeks of winter. 

While the holiday has a silly premise it brings smiles and laughs all over the country and according to Philiber it is “all about having a good time!”