Groundhog Day 2018 – Punxsutawney Phil made his prediction today after he was lured from his burrow to mark the 130-year-old event.
The rodent predicted six more weeks of winter because Phil saw his shadow.
The custom dictates that if a groundhog emerges from its hole at the end of hibernation and sees its shadow against the sunny weather, it will retreat back to its den. This means winter will last a further six weeks.
GROUNDHOG DAY 2018 VIDEO – WATCH PUNXSUTAWNEY PHIL IN FULL HERE
But if there are cloudy skies when the groundhog, a rodent from the marmota squirrel family, comes above ground then the spring season will arrive early.
The event is celebrated annually in the US and Canada on February 2 and this year marks the 132nd Groundhog Day in Pennsylvania.
Groundhog Day is marked officially in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, with a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil who lives on a small hill in the nearby town of Gobbler’s Knob.
Thousands of people have attended the event over the years and the state’s governor has even joined the celebrations in the past.
The first Groundhog Day was celebrated officially at Gobler’s Knob, Punxsutawney on February 2, 1887.
A local newspaper editor, Clymer Freas, came up with the idea after saying that Phil was America’s official groundhog meteorologist.