Today is Groundhog Day and according to Punxsutawney Phil, Spring is coming! Here are excerpts from an article in the
LA Times:
As a huge winter storm paralyzed much of the United States with snow, ice and freezing rain, America's most famous groundhog predicted on Wednesday that spring isn't far away.
Punxsutawney Phil emerged from a tree stump at dawn and, unusually, did not see his shadow.
Phil last made a prediction of an early spring in 2007 and foretells an early end to winter on average only once every 10 years, said Mike Johnston, vice president of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club's Inner Circle, or board of directors.
"It's very unusual," he said.
Johnston said the latest prognostication will be entirely accurate, and does not reflect any desire on Phil's part to cheer up Americans who are suffering through a grueling winter.
"There is no question that Phil is capable of feeling empathy," Johnston said in an interview. "But he is absolutely incapable of error."The rodent's predictions are "not burdened by being site-specific" and so can be sure to predict an early spring in some part of the world, Johnston added.
According to Wikipedia: Of the 115 predictions on record so far, Punxsutawney Phil has predicted an early spring 15 times (13%). As to his accuracy, according to the StormFax Weather Almanac and records kept since 1887, Phil's predictions have been correct just 39% of the time.
Let's hope he's right this time!
