Punxsutawney Phil
Encyclopedia
Groundhog
The groundhog , also known as a woodchuck, whistle-pig, or in some areas as a land-beaver, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. Other marmots, such as the yellow-bellied and hoary marmots, live in rocky and mountainous areas, but...
resident of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania
Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania
Punxsutawney is a borough in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, United States, northeast of Pittsburgh. In 1907, Punxsutawney and Claysville boroughs were consolidated and incorporated as Greater Punxsutawney. A high-grade soft coal was mined in the surrounding region...
. On February 2 (Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day is a holiday celebrated on February 2 in the United States and Canada. According to folklore, if it is cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter-like weather will soon end...
) of each year, the town of Punxsutawney celebrates the beloved groundhog with a festive atmosphere of music and food. During the ceremony, which begins well before the winter sunrise, Phil emerges from his temporary home on Gobbler's Knob, located in a rural area about 2 miles (3.2 km) east of town. According to the tradition, if Phil sees his shadow and returns to his hole, he has predicted six more weeks of winter
Winter
Winter is the coldest season of the year in temperate climates, between autumn and spring. At the winter solstice, the days are shortest and the nights are longest, with days lengthening as the season progresses after the solstice.-Meteorology:...
. If Phil does not see his shadow, he has predicted an early spring
Spring (season)
Spring is one of the four temperate seasons, the transition period between winter and summer. Spring and "springtime" refer to the season, and broadly to ideas of rebirth, renewal and regrowth. The specific definition of the exact timing of "spring" varies according to local climate, cultures and...
. The date of Phil's prognostication is known as Groundhog Day in the United States and Canada. He is considered to be the world's most famous prognosticating rodent. During the rest of the year, Phil lives in the town library with his "wife" Phyllis.
A select group, called the Inner Circle, takes care of Phil year-round and also plans the annual ceremony. Members of the Inner Circle are recognizable by their top hats
Top hat
A top hat, beaver hat, high hat silk hat, cylinder hat, chimney pot hat or stove pipe hat is a tall, flat-crowned, broad-brimmed hat, predominantly worn from the latter part of the 18th to the middle of the 20th century...
and tuxedos. , Phil has two co-handlers, Ben Hughes and John Griffiths.
Punxsutawney Phil lore
Zoological data suggest that groundhogs have an average lifespan of ten years in captivity and six years in the wild, with a maximum lifespan of 14 years in captivity documented. Punxsutawney Phil fans say that there is only one Phil (all the other groundhog weathermen are impostors), and that he has made weather prognostications for over 121 years as of 2011. They say that every summer, Phil is given a sip of the mysterious Groundhog Elixir, which magically lengthens his life for seven years. This is done by Inner Circle members. According to the Groundhog Club, Phil, after making the prediction, speaks to the Club President in "Groundhogese", which only the current president can understand, and then his prediction is translated for the entire world.The Groundhog Day celebration is rooted in a German superstition that says if a hibernating animal casts a shadow on Feb. 2, the Pagan holiday of Imbolc
Imbolc
Imbolc , or St Brigid’s Day , is an Irish festival marking the beginning of spring. Most commonly it is celebrated on 1 or 2 February in the northern hemisphere and 1 August in the southern hemisphere...
, winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow was seen, legend said spring would come early. The result is decided in advance by 14 members of the Inner Circle, who don tuxedos and top hats for the event.
In media and popular culture
- Phil and the town of Punxsutawney were portrayed in the 1993 comedy film Groundhog DayGroundhog Day (film)Groundhog Day is a 1993 American comedy film directed by Harold Ramis, starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell. It was written by Ramis and Danny Rubin, based on a story by Rubin....
. The actual town in the film is Woodstock, IllinoisWoodstock, IllinoisWoodstock is a far northwest suburb of Chicago in McHenry County, Illinois. The population was 20,151 at the 2000 census. The 2010 Census shows 24,770 residents. It is the county seat of McHenry County...
. - In 1995, Phil flew to Chicago for a guest appearance on The Oprah Winfrey ShowThe Oprah Winfrey ShowThe Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
, which aired on Groundhog Day, February 2, 1995. - Phil was also the main attraction on an episode of the MTVMTVMTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
series Viva La BamViva La BamViva La Bam is an American reality television series that stars Bam Margera and his friends and family. The show was a spin-off from MTV's Jackass, in which Margera and most of the main cast had appeared...
. The episode was titled "Groundhog Day" and it aired on April 10, 2005. In the episode, street skater Bam MargeraBam MargeraBrandon Cole "Bam" Margera is an American professional skateboarder, television and radio personality, actor and daredevil. He released a series of videos under the CKY banner and came to prominence after being drafted into MTV's Jackass crew...
held a special race in honor of Punxsutawney Phil. - Until 2009, Ty Inc.Ty Inc.Ty Inc. is an American plush animal company based in Westmont, Illinois. By far their most famous line of products are the Beanie Babies, but Ty also manufactures other lines of stuffed toys...
annually released a "Punxsutawney Phil" Beanie Baby to celebrate Groundhog's Day. The toy is shown consistently wearing a top hat and bow tie in order to appear as a member of the Inner Circle. Three varieties are known to exist. The first is a consumer model with a black bow-tie (some have black or purple capes as well), which is available nationwide. A second, with a red bow-tie, is sold in a few stores in Punxsutawney itself, including at the Chamber of Commerce (both the red- and the black-tie versions benefit the Groundhog Club Inner Circle of Punxsutawney). The third version, with a silver bow-tie, is sold directly through the Ty Store online shop, raising funds for the Clearfield-Jefferson Red Cross. The "Punxsutawney Phil" Beanie Baby for 2009 (with a red bow-tie) was the last in the series; it was available only at the Punxsutawney Souvenir Shop. - In 2010, a new text service was started to announce Phil's predictions. Mobile phoneMobile phoneA mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
users could text the word "Groundhog" to the number 247365. - The Pennsylvania LotteryPennsylvania LotteryThe Pennsylvania Lottery is operated by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The lottery was created by the Pennsylvania General Assembly on August 26, 1971; two months later, Henry Kaplan was appointed as its first executive director...
uses an animatronic groundhog called "Gus", who bills himself in television commercials as the "second-most-famous groundhog in Pennsylvania" (as an unspoken nod to Phil) as their mascot for their instant scratch-off games. - A tetraploid cultivated variety of daylilyDaylilyDaylily is the general nonscientific name of a species, hybrid or cultivar of the genus Hemerocallis . Daylily cultivar flowers are highly diverse in colour and form, as a result of hybridization efforts of gardening enthusiasts and professional horticulturalists...
named "Punxsutawney Phil" was registered with the American Hemerocallis Society in 2003.
Past predictions
| Year | Prediction |
|---|---|
| 1887–1888 | Long winter |
| 1889 | No record |
| 1890 | Early spring |
| 1891–1897 | No record |
| 1898 | Long winter |
| 1899 | No record |
| 1900–1901 | Long winter |
| 1902 | Early spring |
| 1903–1933 | Long winter |
| 1934 | Early spring |
| 1935–1941 | Long winter |
| 1942 | "War clouds have blacked out parts of the shadow." |
| 1943 | No appearance (World War II World War II World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis... ) |
| 1944–1949 | Long winter |
| 1950 | Early spring |
| 1951–1969 | Long winter |
| 1970 | Early spring |
| 1971–1974 | Long winter |
| 1975 | Early spring |
| 1976–1982 | Long winter |
| 1983 | Early spring |
| 1984–1985 | Long winter |
| 1986 | Early spring |
| 1987 | Long winter |
| 1988 | Early spring |
| 1989 | Long winter |
| 1990 | Early spring |
| 1991–1994 | Long winter |
| 1995 | Early spring |
| 1996 | Long winter |
| 1997 | Early spring |
| 1998 | Long winter |
| 1999 | Early spring |
| 2000–2006 | Long winter |
| 2007 | Early spring |
| 2008–2010 | Long winter |
| 2011 | Early spring |
Of these 115 predictions on record so far, Punxsutawney Phil has predicted an early spring 15 times (13%). As to his accuracy, according to the StormFax Weather Almanac and records kept since 1887, Phil's predictions have been correct 39% of the time.
See also
- Buckeye ChuckBuckeye ChuckBuckeye Chuck, Ohio's official weather-predicting groundhog, resides in Marion, Ohio. He is one of two groundhogs in Ohio known for predicting the arrival of spring on Groundhog Day . A native of Ohio, Chuck began predicting the arrival of spring in the 1970s...
- General Beauregard LeeGeneral Beauregard LeeGeneral Beauregard Lee is a groundhog that resides at the Yellow River Game Ranch in Lilburn, Georgia just outside of Atlanta. He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Georgia - "DWP, Doctor of Weather Prognostication" and Georgia State University - "Doctor of Southern...
- Staten Island ChuckStaten Island ChuckStaten Island Chuck, also referred to more formally as Charles G. Hogg, is a groundhog who resides in the Staten Island Zoo in Staten Island, New York in the United States. He is noted as the official groundhog meteorologist of New York City who predicts the duration of winter each February 2 on...
- Wiarton WillieWiarton WillieWiarton Willie is a famous albino Canadian groundhog who lived in the community of Wiarton in Bruce County, Ontario. Every February 2, on Groundhog Day, Willie took part in the local Wiarton Willie Festival. His role is to predict whether there will be an early spring...
- Shubenacadie SamShubenacadie SamShubenacadie Sam is a famous Canadian groundhog who lives at the Shubenacadie Provincial Wildlife Park in the town of Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia. Every February 2, on Groundhog Day, Sam's shadow is closely observed at sunrise to make the traditional prediction whether there will be an early spring...
External links
- Groundhog.org, the official site of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club
- PunxsutawneyPhil.com