Groundhog Day: Punxsutawney Phil makes 140th weather prediction

Pennsylvania’s “official state meteorologist,” Punxsutawney Phil, saw his shadow Monday morning, predicting six more weeks of winter.

Thousands of people gathered for the 140th celebration of Groundhog Day on Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to see the famous groundhog emerge from his tree stump.

Meanwhile, AccuWeather’s chief long-range weather expert, meteorologist Paul Pastelok, said the coming week will remain cold, with below average temperatures in the eastern United States.

“We’ve still got some more snow and ice to contend with” in the mid-Atlantic, Ohio River Valley and Northeastern U.S., he said.

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“The farther out you get the accuracy is not specifically on point all the time, but we can get trends,” Pastelok said about any long-range forecasts.

While Phil made his annual prognostication, the National Centers for Environmental Information remains a skeptic of the animal’s prediction ability. The government agency last year compared Phil’s record with U.S. national temperatures over the prior decade and concluded he was right only 40% of the time.

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Among the political figures drawn to the Gobbler’s Knob stage on Monday was U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, who noted his mother was from Punxsutawney. Also spotted were state Treasurer Stacy Garrity, who is currently pursuing the governorship, and top state Senate Republicans Joe Pittman and Kim Ward.

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While Groundhog Day is considered a national holiday and has even been popularized in the classic 1993 Bill Murray film of the same name, the day — and Phil himself — hold a special place in many Pennsylvanians’ hearts.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.