Marmota monax skull; note the white teeth and sharp chisel edge where the incisors meet.
The time has come to practice your Monday Morning Quarterback skills. Not the weekend after the big game, but six weeks post-event. The “prognosticator of prognosticators, the seer of seers” has predicted our weather for the past six weeks. And not only has he done it this year, he’s done it for the past 135 years; now that’s one old gutsy rodent. And he’s made his predictions before a society of men in black coats and bowties, a cult of sorts the “Inner circle” of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.
By Yakir Benzion, United With Israel
The world’s most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, emerged from his winter hibernation Tuesday on Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, and predicted another six weeks of winter.
But few people are aware that the annual ceremony every Feb. 2 was not that big a deal until a local Jewish coal mine operator added pizzazz to the festivities,
The Forward reported.
According to the website jewishfamilieshistory.org, Punxsutawney was incorporated in 1849 and the first synagogue was founded in 1889. In the mid-20th century, the Light family was well known in town with the patriarch Abraham Light, who owned several coal companies and was director of the Punxsutawney National Bank. Light’s son Sam was also in the coal business but made his name as president of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club from 1952 to 1976.
Groundhog Day, February 2, is a popular tradition in the United States. It is also a legend that traverses many centuries, its origins clouded in the mists of time with ethnic cultures and animals awakening on specific dates.
CNN reports today “Brace yourself for six more weeks of winter’.
That is, if you like to get your weather prediction from a groundhog in Pennsylvania.
Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow Tuesday morning and, as legend holds, that means six additional weeks of heavy coats and mittens.
Phil was awakened at 7:25 a.m. and made his prediction in front of about 16 members of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club at Gobbler s Knob.
Not even the COVID-19 pandemic, nor snow, could keep Punxsutawney Phil from getting his job done on Groundhog Day on Tuesday.
The great weather-predicting groundhog could not be stopped, forecasting six more weeks of winter after seeing his shadow during the annual spectacle at Gobbler s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.
Over the 135 year-tradition, it is the 106th time Phil has seen his shadow.
While the event usually draws thousands to the borough in Jefferson County northeast of Pittsburgh, this year s festivities were all virtual.
The exception: About a dozen members of Phil s Inner Circle, a group of men in top hats who organize the event each year. Some cardboard cutouts of some previous attendees were placed around the tiny hill just outside Punxsutawney.
Groundhog Day: Georgia’s famous ‘Beau’ predicts early spring WSBTV.com News Staff
It’s a very cold day in Georgia – but General Beauregard ‘Beau’ Lee has some good news for you: Spring is coming early.
Georgia’s famous critter didn’t see his shadow this morning for Groundhog’s Day.
Gen. Beauregard Lee was a celebrity groundhog for decades in Gwinnett County before he moved to Jackson last year. The current “Beau” is the “bachelor nephew” of the original Gen. Lee, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Lee’s new home at the Dauset Trails Nature Center
Severe Weather Team 2 Meteorologist Brian Monahan said so far, this winter has had above average temperatures. While we expect cold shots over the next few weeks leading into spring, the overall pattern is for near to above average temperatures for the rest of the winter.