| UPDATED: 12:12, Tue, Feb 2, 2021
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Groundhog Day 2020: Punxsutawney Phil predicts early spring Sign up to receive our rundown of the day s top stories direct to your inbox
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Groundhog Day falls on February 2 each year, with crowds gathering at Gobblers Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to see a prediction of whether there will be six more weeks of winter or an early spring. However this forecast is not based on the weather or any other science, instead, it is in the hands of a groundhog named Phil.
Saint John, NB, Canada / The Wave
Feb 2, 2021 10:03 AM
To truly determine how this winter is going to play out, we need to ask the expert: the groundhog.
February 2nd is halfway between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. The Celts used to celebrate the beginning of spring today, in a pagan festival called Imbolc. When Christianity showed up, Imbolc changed to Candlemas to celebrate Jesus being presented in Jerusalem at the holy temple. But those old pagan superstitions held strong so some would say that a sunny Candlemas means 40 more days of winter.
Punxsutawney Phil IG @punxsyphil
The Germans took it one step further and said it only qualified as sunny if small animals could see their shadow, and when they immigrated to the New World, the small animal they chose was the local groundhog.