In US, Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, predicting 6 more weeks of wintry weather  

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. — 

U.S. groundhog Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadiness Sunday and predicted six much weeks of wintry weather, his top-hatted handlers announced to a raucous, record-sized assemblage astatine Gobbler's Knob successful Pennsylvania.

Phil was welcomed with chants of "Phil, Phil, Phil," and pulled from a hatch connected his histrion stump soon aft sunrise earlier a subordinate of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club work from a scroll successful which helium boasted: "Only I cognize — you can't spot A.I."

The woodchuck's upwind forecast is an yearly ritual that goes backmost much than a period successful occidental Pennsylvania, with acold older roots successful European folklore, but it took Bill Murray's 1993 "Groundhog Day" movie to alteration the lawsuit into what it is today, with tens of thousands of revelers astatine the country and imitators scattered astir the United States and beyond.

When Phil is deemed to person not seen his shadow, that is said to usher successful an aboriginal spring. When helium does spot it, determination volition beryllium six much weeks of winter.

The assemblage was treated to a fireworks show, confetti and unrecorded euphony that ranged from the Ramones to "Pennsylvania Polka" arsenic they awaited sunrise and Phil's emergence. Gov. Josh Shapiro, section and authorities elected officials and a brace of pageant winners were among the dignitaries astatine the scene.

Self-employed New York gingerbread creator Jon Lovitch has attended the lawsuit for 33 years. "I similar the cold, you know, and this is astir apt the champion and biggest midwinter enactment successful the full world," Lovitch said successful Punxsutawney. "And it's conscionable a truly bully time."

Phil has predicted a longer wintertime acold much often than an aboriginal spring, and 1 effort to way his accuracy concluded helium was close little than fractional the time. What six much weeks of wintertime means is subjective.

Tom Dunkel, president of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, says determination are 2 types of radical who marque the trek to Gobbler's Knob: the faithful seeking to validate their beliefs and the doubters who privation to corroborate their skepticism.

Phil communicated his forecast to Dunkel done "Groundhog-ese" with the assistance of a peculiar cane that Dunkel has inherited arsenic the club's leader. It's not arsenic if helium speaks successful English words. "He'll similar wink, he'll purr, he'll chatter, he'll — you cognize — nod," Dunkel said.

Attendance is escaped but it outgo $5 to instrumentality a autobus and debar a 1.6 kilometer trek from the mediate of municipality to the signifier wherever the prediction was made, immoderate 123 kilometers northeast of Pittsburgh.

The request for truthful galore buses is wherefore the section schools, wherever the sports mascot is the Chucks, adjacent erstwhile Groundhog Day falls connected a weekday.

Keith Post, his woman and a person person watched the "Groundhog Day" movie successful each of the past 5 years and decided this was the clip to marque the travel from Ohio to witnesser the event.

"We booked rooms astir a twelvemonth successful beforehand and we're here," Post said. "We're doing it."

A caller invited halfway opened 4 years agone and the nine is moving connected an elaborate 2nd surviving abstraction for Phil and household truthful they tin divided clip betwixt Gobbler's Knob and Phil's longtime location astatine the municipality library. The nine besides enactment up ample video screens and much almighty speakers this twelvemonth to assistance attendees successful the backmost of the assemblage travel the proceedings.

"It's a vacation wherever you don't truly beryllium anyone anything," said A.J. Dereume, who among the club's 15-member interior ellipse serves arsenic Phil's handler and held him up to large cheers connected Sunday. "You're grasping onto the belief, you know, successful thing that's conscionable amusive to judge in."

Jackie Handley agreed a twelvemonth agone to sojourn Punxsutawney for the archetypal clip to assistance a person cheque disconnected an point connected their bucket list. They were acceptable for the subfreezing temperatures. "It's erstwhile successful a beingness — we're astir apt not going to travel back. And we person tons of lukewarm clothes," said Handley, who lives successful Falls Church, Virginia. After the forecast was made, nine members and Phil posed for photos with radical from the crowd.

Phil has a wife, Punxsutawney Phyllis, and 2 pups calved this spring, Shadow and Sunny, though his household did not articulation him connected signifier for the large event. The groundhog household eats fruits and vegetables, get regular visits from Dereume and sees a veterinarian astatine slightest erstwhile a year. The club's lore is that Phil is the aforesaid woodchuck who has been issuing upwind forecasts for the past century, acknowledgment to an "elixir of life" that keeps him immortal. "There's lone 1 Phil, and it's not thing that tin beryllium handed down," Dunkel said. "Just similar Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, there's lone one."

Groundhog Day celebrations, ceremonial and informal, were being held successful galore Pennsylvania towns and elsewhere connected Sunday. There person been Groundhog Day events successful astatine slightest 28 U.S. states and Canadian provinces.