Groundhog Day was immortalised on film when a movie of the same name starring Bill Murray was released in 1993. The custom is also celebrated in Canada but its origins have roots in Europe.
What is the story behind the bizarre annual US tradition?
Groundhog Day is celebrated on February 2 every year and this year will be Pennsylvania’s 134th event.
Thousands of flock to Punxsutawney in Pennsylvania every year for the tradition.
Fans around the world even tune in to watch Groundhog Day on TV.
READ MORE: Groundhog Day 2020: When is Groundhog Day in the US this year?
On the day, the groundhog Punxsutawney Phil comes out from its burrow.
If it sees its shadow in the sunlight, it will retreat to its den and that means there will be six weeks more of winter.
But, if Phil does not see his shadow then spring will soon arrive.
If there are cloudy skies above the woodchuck when he emerges from his home it signifies that spring will arrive sooner than planned.
The first reported news of a Groundhog Day observance was made by the Punxsutawney Spirit newspaper in 1886.
But it wasn’t until 1887 that the first Groundhog Day was considered “official” commemorated in the town.
There is a belief that the groundhog was named Phil after King Philip, but which monarch this was a reference too was never made clear.
One theory exists that suggests the animal was named after the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip.
Punxsutawney sent two baby groundhogs, named after the Queen and her husband, to Los Angeles’s Griffith Park Zoo in 1953.
But the California Department of Agriculture declared the baby groundhogs “agricultural pests” and demanded they be “destroyed” and so they were killed.
The head of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club was worried that the killings could spark an international incident.
Speaking to the the Los Angeles Times, he said: “I’m going to ask my Congressman to take the matter up with the State Department so we won’t get into complications with England. Killing these groundhogs was an insult to the royal family.”
Eight years later, the name Punxsutawney Phil first appeared in newspapers and the theory suggests it is possible the name was a nod to one of the ‘royal’ groundhogs.