Groundhog wars: Rodents diverge on winter forecast


PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (AP) -- Pennsylvania's Punxsutawney Phil told people to prepare for six more weeks of winter on Thursday, making him the minority opinion among his groundhog brethren who seem to think that spring is coming early.

But with such a mild and relatively snowless winter so far, who can tell the difference between?

Phil's "prediction" came as he emerged from his lair to "see" his shadow on Gobbler's Knob, a tiny hill in the town for which he's named about 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

But groundhogs in at least four other states -- West Virginia's French Creek Freddie, Georgia's Gen. Beauregard Lee, Ohio's Buckeye Chuck and New York's Staten Island Chuck (full name: Charles G. Hogg) -- did not see their shadows.


Temperatures were near freezing when Phil emerged at dawn -- unseasonably warm for Punxsutawney -- and were forecast to climb into the mid-40s in a winter that's brought little snow and only a few notably cold days to much of the East.

Organizers expected 15,000 to 18,000 people to witness the prognostication ceremony that was held just before 7:30 a.m.

And the ceremony is largely that: Phil's prediction is determined ahead of time by the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club's Inner Circle, a group who dons top hats and tuxedos and decides in advance what the furry creature will predict.



Phil has now seen his shadow 100 times and hasn't seen it just 16 times since 1886, according to the Inner Circle. There are no records for the remaining years.



