[beyond the sea]

Has he ever not seen his shadow?

Punxsutawney Phil, the prognosticator of prognosticators, is the world's smallest and furriest weather forecaster and February 2 is his day.

The ceremony in Punxsutawney was held in secret until 1966, and only Phil's prediction was revealed to the public. Since then, Phil's fearless forecast has been a national media event.

The groundhog comes out of his electrically heated burrow, looks for his shadow and utters his prediction to a Groundhog Club representative in "groundhogese." The representative then translates the prediction for the general public.

If Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, it means six more weeks of winter. If he does not see his shadow, it means spring is just around the corner.

***

To answer your question, from time to time he has NOT seen his shadow.

But Phil, being a betting man, knows that on February 2nd, there's a pretty damn good chance of six more weeks of cold weather!

;-)

[evad]

>>..knows that on February 2nd, there's a pretty damn good chance of six more weeks of cold weather! ;-)<<

This certainly demonstrates that he has better reasoning skills than you average dimocRAT.

Sign him up as a talking head.

[Alia]

Thanks for the ping, BTS. Every year, I await word over what the groundhog "sayeth". And yes, I do recall years when he didn't see his shadow.

Last night at library, I picked up a book, authored in the 60s, interviewing folks in the Lower Appalachian Mountains. Whole section given to how the folks predict winter. They don't do the groundhog thing. But, if at this time of year the north side of the bark on trees is dry.. winter is near over. If it is moist, more weeks of winter.

Trees in my local are moist on the north side.