Groundhog Day (February 2) is the observance of a seemingly trivial event: a groundhog exits his hole after a long winter sleep to look for his shadow. If the sun shines and the groundhog sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. If the day is cloudy or rainy, winter will come to an early close. The day is rather low-key and a pleasant reminder of agrarian routines that have become increasingly distant from urban society.
In France, the bear supposedly returned to its hole for forty days if the sun shone, while in Germany the badger did the same thing. Germans believed that the badger had the power to predict the coming of spring. A farmer could expect a good planting season if winter ended soon. Since there were not many badgers in Pennsylvania, where thousands of German immigrants settled in the nineteenth century, the groundhog substituted for the badger.
The myth of Groundhog Day has its origins in an ancient celebration between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. The early Christians in Europe established the custom of Candlemas Day when the clergy would bless candles and people would light them in each window of their homes to ward off the darkness of midwinter. Many folklorists trace this belief back to an ancient pagan celebration by the Scottish Celts called Imbolog, which marked a “cross-quarter” day, one of the days that fell midway between the solstices and equinoxes.
In the United States, local customs have placed Groundhog Day on either February 2 or February 14, which is the proper date of traditionalists in states like Missouri, Arkansas, and Illinois, although an edict of the Missouri Legislature officially established Groundhog Day on February 2. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the official groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, lives at Gobbler’s Knob near Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Other notable contenders are General Beauregard Lee of Atlanta, Georgia; Wiarton Willie of Wiarton, Ontario, Canada; Sir Walter Wally of Raleigh, North Carolina; and Jimmy of Wisconsin.
Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, is the area most associated with the Groundhog Day celebration. The groundhog named “Punxsutawney Phil” becomes a newsworthy celebrity for one day each year, although there were notable highlights. In 1981 Phil wore a yellow ribbon in honor of the American hostages in Iran who had been released only a few weeks earlier. Five years later, he traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with President Reagan. In 1993 Phil starred in the Columbia Pictures movie Groundhog Day, which did much to publicize the observance; it earned more than $100 million worldwide.
Punxsutawney held its first Groundhog Day in the United States on February 2, 1887, largely through the efforts of Clymer H. Freas, city editor of the Punxsutawney Spirit newspaper. He was inspired by a group of local hunters and gourmets who held a groundhog hunt followed by a picnic barbecue of groundhog meat. Freas wrote up the group as the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club and promoted the Punxsutawney Groundhog as the official weather forecaster. As he embellished the story year after year, other newspapers picked it up, and soon everyone looked to Punxsutawney Phil for the critical prediction of when spring would return to the nation.
Groundhog Club co-handler John Griffiths displays Punxsutawney Phil during the Groundhog Day celebration at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, February 2016. Although many woodchucks vie for the honor across the United States, Punxsutawney Phil is the official Marmot Meteorologist of America according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (David Maxwell/epa/Corbis)
But how accurate are Phil’s predictions? Not realistic, considering the weather at that time of year. This debunks the most persistent myth of the groundhog and his shadow. Winter can last anywhere from mid-March to early May in various regions of the United States. Historical data from NOAA suggest that winter persists in the United States far beyond the February 2 date of Groundhog Day. Since the three coldest months of the year are December, January, and February, February 2 is in the middle of winter. Therefore, it is not surprising that in most years, and for many parts of the United States, winter continues for another month or more beyond the first week of February.
Martin J. Manning
See also Superstitions; Weather Prediction Myths
Further Reading
Anderson, Bill. 1992. Groundhog Day: The Great Groundhog Day Book. Punxsutawney, PA: Spirit.
Aveni, Anthony F. 2003. The Book of the Year: A Brief History of Our Seasonal Holidays. New York: Oxford University Press.
Old, Wendie C. 2004. The Groundhog Day Book of Facts and Fun. Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman.
“Punxsutawney Phil vs. the U.S. National Temperature 1988–2013.” 2014. NOAA website. http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/special-reports/groundhog-day.php. Accessed February 9, 2015.
Yoder, Don. 2003. Groundhog Day. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole.