Phil sees shadow, so winter will linger

It’s official: We will have a longer winter, according to America’s beloved groundhog meteorologist.

Punxsutawney Phil rose from his burrow and saw his shadow Thursday morning in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, in front of a large Groundhog Day crowd as the nation anxiously waited to see what he would predict.

Phil’s prediction was made official after speaking with Groundhog Club president Tom Dunkel in “Groundhogese,” who then translated the prediction for the world.

Phil spotting his shadow means we will have six more weeks of winter. The prediction comes as much of the country is dealing with another major winter storm.

This year marks the third straight year the groundhog has spotted his shadow, something he has done often since his first prediction in 1887. Of the 127 recorded times Phil has predicted the weather, he has now seen his shadow 107 times ( or 84% of the time). His longest streak of seeing his shadow remains at 31, when he saw it every year from 1903 to 1933.

It’ll take some time to figure out whether Phil’s prediction is right, but given his history, he’s probably wrong.

According to the Stormfax Weather Almanac, Phil has been right only 39% of the time, and his track record is evidence that trying to predict the weather is hard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information says.

“Predicting the arrival of springtime for an entire country, especially one with such varied regional climates as the United States, isn’t easy,” the center said.

Still, it doesn’t prevent the The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club’s Inner Circle – the group that puts on the annual event and takes care of Phil – from celebrating its hero. The group says the groundhog’s prediction is right “100% of the time, of course!”

AP Groundhog Club handler A. J. Dereume holds Punxsutawney Phil during the 137th celebration of Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, Pa., on Thursday.