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    February 02, 2012

Groundhog Predicts 6 More Weeks of Winter

   VOA News
   Groundhog Club handler John Griffiths holds Punxsutawney Phil at the
   126th celebration of Groundhog Day in Pennsylvania, Feb. 2, 2012.
   Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS
   Groundhog Club handler John Griffiths holds Punxsutawney Phil at the
   126th celebration of Groundhog Day in Pennsylvania, Feb. 2, 2012.

   Winter is here to stay for at least for six more weeks, according to a
   furry little resident of a small town called Punxsutawney in the
   eastern U.S. state of Pennsylvania.
   A groundhog dubbed Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his cozy tree stump
   home early Thursday, as he does each year, and he saw his shadow.
   Tradition has it that if Phil sees his shadow -- that is, if the day is
   sunny -- there will be six more weeks of winter. If not, it means
   spring will arrive soon.
   If Phil is correct in his 2012 forecast, the U.S. may get the winter
   weather that it has been missing since the season began nearly two
   months ago.
   Last Groundhog Day, more than half of the continental U.S. was covered
   in snow. Less than a fifth of was the nation was covered Wednesday.
   Organizers expected a crowd of 15,000 or more to gather for the
   traditional Groundhog Day observance.
   Groundhog Day is traditionally observed each February second at cities
   and villages throughout the U.S. and Canada.
   Punxsutawney Phil is the most famous of the furry prognosticators.
   Generations of groundhogs -- members of the marmot family, known more
   formally as woodchucks -- have been predicting the weather since 1887.
   Other states have their own groundhogs, like Sir Walter Wally of North
   Carolina. In West Virginia, there is French Creek Freddie. Georgia has
   General Beauregard Lee.
   Canada's most famous groundhog is Wiarton Willie of Ottawa.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP.

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