"It may be hard to believe as a large swath of the U.S. thaws out from a bitter polar vortex, but spring is coming early, according to handlers for some of the country's most famous prognosticating groundhogs."
"Come out little ground hog
Stick your head up look around
Can't you see there ain't no shadows
On the cold, cold ground
But if you dance and sing your song
Then you'll know that Winter's gone
Come out little ground hog, spring the spring on me"
Six weeks ago today, was Thursday, February 2nd. The Ground Hog pronounced that there would be six more weeks of winter, exactly six weeks ago today. Today, it may reach 29 degrees with blowing snow. Therefore, Punxsutawney Phil lied.
Good news. It's seems unlikely at this point that Punxsutawney Phil will see his shadow. It will however be warm in the morning for those going down to Punxsutawney, PA to see the ground hog.
The Punxsutawney Forecast:
Monday Night - Mostly cloudy, with a low around 35.
Tuesday - A chance of rain after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 50. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Tuesday Night - Rain likely, mainly after 11pm. Cloudy, with a low around 40. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
1) There was no sunshine in Punxsutawney, PA this morning. This is a fact confirmed by the National Weather Service’s history record for nearby Dubois, PA.
| D a t e |
Time (est) |
Wind (mph) |
Vis. (mi.) |
Weather | Sky Cond. | Temperature (ºF) | Relative Humidity |
Wind Chill (°F) |
Heat Index (°F) |
Pressure | Precipitation (in.) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air | Dwpt | 6 hour | altimeter (in) |
sea level (mb) |
1 hr | 3 hr | 6 hr | ||||||||||
| Max. | Min. | ||||||||||||||||
| 02 | 10:56 | W 3 | 5.00 | Light Snow Fog/Mist | BKN004 OVC016 | 35 | 32 | 89% | NA | NA | 29.96 | 1015.6 | |||||
| 02 | 09:56 | NW 3 | 1.75 | Light Snow Fog/Mist | OVC004 | 34 | 32 | 92% | NA | NA | 29.96 | 1015.8 | 0.03 | 0.05 | |||
| 02 | 08:56 | NW 7 | 8.00 | Overcast | OVC004 | 36 | 33 | 89% | 30 | NA | 29.95 | 1015.2 | 0.02 | ||||
| 02 | 07:56 | W 7 | 0.25 | Fog | VV002 | 39 | 37 | 93% | 34 | NA | 29.91 | 1013.8 | |||||
| 02 | 06:56 | W 7 | 0.25 | Fog | VV002 | 39 | 37 | 46 | 39 | 93% | 34 | NA | 29.88 | 1012.7 | 0.02 | 0.07 | |
| 02 | 05:56 | W 8 | 0.25 | Fog | VV002 | 39 | 37 | 93% | 33 | NA | 29.88 | 1012.6 | 0.01 | ||||
| 02 | 04:56 | W 9 | 2.00 | Fog/Mist | OVC003 | 40 | 38 | 93% | 34 | NA | 29.88 | 1012.5 | 0.03 | ||||
| 02 | 03:56 | W 12 | 7.00 | Overcast | OVC009 | 40 | 37 | 89% | 33 | NA | 29.87 | 1012.2 | 0.01 | ||||
| 02 | 02:56 | W 13 | 8.00 | Overcast | OVC013 | 42 | 36 | 79% | 35 | NA | 29.87 | 1012.3 | 0.01 | ||||
| 02 | 01:56 | W 13 | 10.00 | Overcast | FEW026 OVC037 | 45 | 29 | 54% | 39 | NA | 29.86 | 1012.2 | |||||
| 02 | 00:56 | SW 8 | 10.00 | Overcast | OVC048 | 46 | 26 | 46 | 41 | 46% | 42 | NA | 29.86 | 1011.9 | |||
2) Look at the video from this morning’s ceremony. It was clearly dark, foggy, and no sign of sunshine in sight.
I am of the opinion that the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club got it wrong when they declared Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow.
Sunday is Ground Hog Day. It looks almost certain that Phil will see his shadow in Punxsutawney. Going to be in the 30s and mostly sunny. So no early spring, at least not in Pennsylvania. And a lot of angry Pennsyltuckian rednecks wanting to get their revenge on Phil.
The ground hog in Pennsylvania might get a one day reprieve due to Pennsylvania’s blue laws against hunting most species including Ground Hogs on Sundays, but it sure doesn’t look good for him thereafter. At least it’s going to be fairly cold for the following week, so most Ground Hogs will be safely hidden underground in their burrows.