Groundhog predicts 6 more weeks of winter weather for US

There are no reviewed versions of this page, so it may not have been checked for adherence to standards.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Groundhog Day 2005.
Image: Aaron Silvers.

Each year, for the past 118 years, thousands of people have traveled to the Pennsylvania town of Punxsutawney in the United States, about 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, on February 2nd to see if the groundhog named Phil predicted more winter weather or an early spring.

This year, Phil did see his shadow when pulled out of his burrow on Gobblers' Knob, which according to an essentially German superstition, means the area should brace for more winter weather.

This year, visitors came from as far as Texas and Alaska to see the annual event, which may be linked to a European festival of Candlemas. The crowd of nearly 30,000 people was one of the largest in the event's history.

In Wiarton, Ontario, Canada's Wiarton Willie, however, predicted an early spring for Canadians in the province. Just a day ago a heavy snowstorm blaze struck Ontario and Quebec. "Dignitaries, me lads and ladies, get your shorts and T-shirts too, Wiarton Willie's annual task is through. Now the town crier proudly rings, Willie predicts it's an early spring," said town crier Bruce Krugerwhile while ringing his bell. Nova Scotia's Shubenacadie Sam also predicted an early spring. It is said up to ten thousand people attend the event in Ontario annually.

Have an opinion on this story? Share it!

Sources

Jon Hurdle. "Pennsylvania groundhog sees six more winter weeks" — Reuters, February 2, 2008
Associated Press. "Punxsutawney Phil's prediction: more winter" — CNN, February 2, 2008
Peter Gibbs. "Punxsutawney Phil's Big Day by Peter Gibbs" — BBC News, February 2, 2008
"Wiarton Willie fails to see shadow, predicts early end to winter" — Canadian Press, February 2, 2008

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.

The text of this article is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License