It’s not a holiday but it’s marked on all of our calendars.
Groundhog Day came and went again this year, this time to mixed answers as to if we’re going to see an early spring or have to deal with a few more weeks of winter.
But where did this quirky tradition of having a rodent predict our weather exactly come from?
It comes from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day and sees a shadow due to clear weather, it will retreat to its den and winter will stay for six more weeks, and if he does not, due to cloudiness, spring season will arrive early.
The folklore was brought from German-speaking areas where the badger is the forecasting animal.
The earliest mention of Groundhog Day is a February 2, 1840 entry in the diary of James L. Morris of Morgantown, Pennsylvania, in Pennsylvania Dutch Country.
This year, Nova Scotia’s Shubenacadie Sam was the first to emerge from their burrow on Groundhog Day and with Sam failing to see his shadow, called for an early spring.
Pennsylvania’s Punxsutawney Phil; perhaps the most famous groundhog of them all, saw its shadow, meaning more cold and blustery weather.
Ontario’s Wiarton Willie emerged and announced six more weeks of winter.
Guess it’s winter jackets and snow boots for a little while longer if the groundhogs are right.