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Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow, predicting an early spring during the annual Groundhog Day event in Western Pennsylvania Friday (February 2) morning, USA TODAY reports.
During the annual February 2 ceremony, Punxsutawney Phil emerges from his temporary home on Gobbler's Knob and determines whether the next six weeks will see more winter-like weather. The weather predicting groundhog was summoned from his tree stump in front of a crowd of thousands at Gobbler's Knob in Western Pennsylvania just before dawn.
Folklore states that six more weeks of winter will take place if the groundhog sees his shadow, while spring will come early if he doesn't. The annual event in Punxsutawney, which is located about 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, stemmed from a German legend based on a groundhog.
Phil has reportedly predicted an extended winter more than 100 times, according to records dating back to 1887, though organizers specified that 10 years were lost because no records were kept at the time. The groundhog is, however, often wrong, with a reported 40% accuracy rate within the past decade, according to data shared by the Stormfax Weather Almanac.
In 2022, the most recent year analyzed by the center and the second of three consecutive extended winters predicted, the U.S. had slightly below average temperatures in February and above average temperatures in March.
"Somehow, according to our experts ... the groundhog has been less accurate than a coin flip over the past ten years," the Stormfax Weather Almanac said in an email to USA TODAY.