PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. — The country’s most famous groundhog predicted an early spring Wednesday.
Punxsutawney Phil emerged just after dawn on Groundhog Day to make his 125th annual weather forecast in front of a smaller-than-usual crowd in rural Pennsylvania that braved muddy, icy conditions to hear his handlers reveal that he had not seen his shadow.
The Groundhog Day celebration is rooted in a German superstition that says if a hibernating animal casts a shadow on Feb. 2, the Christian holiday of Candlemas, winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow is seen, legend says spring will come early.
In reality, Pennsylvania’s prophetic rodent doesn’t see much of anything.
The result is decided in advance by 14 members of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club’s Inner Circle, who don tuxedos and top hats for the event.
The celebration usually draws 10,000 to 15,000 spectators on a weekday, Groundhog club spokesman Luke Webber said.
The area was under a winter weather warning, and while heavier snows and sleet never materialized, rain in about 35-degree weather thinned the crowd, said Webber, who offered no specific estimate.
