Do you ever wonder why we celebrate Groundhog Day? Groundhog Day falls on February 2nd each year. The theory is that based on the idea that certain animals can predict future weather conditions. This idea dates back at least one thousand years. Six more weeks of winter or is spring near? How did this tradition get started? We’ve put together some interesting facts about Groundhog Day to shed some light on the long standing superstition.
Throughout history, this prediction was not always based around February second. February 2nd became significant in the Dark Ages, specifically in Europe. The then popular superstion was born when peasants and nobles noticed a seemingly strong connection between a bright and sunny medieval Candlemas Day (falls on February 2nd) and the dreary winter weather continuing for the next 6 weeks. The popular saying was: “If Candlemas be fair and bright, Winter has another flight. If Candlemas brings clouds and rain, Winter will not come again.”
So where did the groundhog come in? The famous Punxsutawney Phil ancestors came from Germany where it was the hedgehog that played a starring role in predicting the spring or winter weather to come.
Legend has it that in later winter, German farmers would watch for the hibernating hedgehog animal to come out of his burrow. If the hedgehog saw his shadow on a bright, sunlit day he quickly returned to hibernate. The correlation was strongly accepted and the spread of the idea that this animal can predict the weather to come became very widely accepted. As German farmers became settlers in Pennsylvania, they brought this belief along with them. As time went on the hedgehog was replaced with a more common American animal, the groundhog.
Pennsylvania-born groundhog PunxsutawneyPhil is still around and is considered a bit of a celebrity. Each year February 2nd, we watch as he emerges out of hibernation. His awakening is televised and we watch and wait with baited breath to see if Punxsutawney Phil will deliver us news of more winter or warmer weather. It’s possible that this groundhog may be the most famous weather forecaster in the USA. Each year, the world’s paparazzi hold vigil in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania on February 2 as America waits with frosted breath for Phil to emerge.
Only Punxsutawney Phil and his shadow know if we count on an early spring in 2010. We’ll all just have to wait and see on February 2nd!
