Groundhog Day Mythbusters

Photo from ABC News 10

Groundhog Day this year was on February 2nd. The famous groundhog Punxsutawney Phil, from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, saw his shadow this year and retreated back to his den, resulting in 6 more weeks of winter. The Groundhog Day tradition has been around since February 2, 1886. The idea of Groundhog Day is that if the groundhog emerges from his den and sees his shadow, winter will last 6 more weeks, but if the groundhog doesn't see his shadow, warm weather is sure to happen soon. 

This article will cover misconceptions about how Groundhog Day works and how it originated.

Myth 1: Punxsutawney Phil is the only weather-predicting groundhog.

While he is the most well known groundhog, many other communities have their own groundhogs.

Myth 2: The groundhog is always correct.

This is incorrect. Phil the groundhog only has an accuracy rate of 39%, so his predictions are  wrong about the weather a majority of the time. 

Myth 3: Groundhogs were always used to predict the weather.

This is false. While European and German traditions do refer to using animals to predict the weather, in history the animal was traditionally a bear, badger or hedgehog, not a groundhog.

Myth 4: The groundhog can scientifically predict the weather. 

While the tradition includes the idea that the groundhog has a sense that predicts the weather, groundhogs are not actually able to, and this is only a superstition, but has some facts to it. The groundhog hypothetically could know when winter is up due to hibernation patterns, therefore when it sees its shadow and retreats back into its den, winter will hypothetically go on for 6 more weeks, but this is typically not accurate, especially with the groundhogs accuracy rate.

Sources:

1) "What did other groundhogs predict after Phil saw his shadow and predicted more winter?" Fox Weather

2) "Groundhog Day: Ancient Origins of a Modern Celebration," Library of Congress

3) "Top Groundhog Day Myths," 123Dentist

4) "Can a groundhog predict when it'll be spring?" TerminixCan a groundhog predict when it’ll be spring?