Groundhog Sees Shadow, Wintry Weeks Ahead
09:59 a.m. Feb 02, 1998 Eastern
PITTSBURGH (Reuters) - Punxsutawney Phil, America's favorite groundhog, saw
his shadow Monday, a legendary sign of six more weeks of winter.
Groundhog Day has been an annual event for 112 years in Punxsutawney,
Pennsylvania, a small town 97 miles north of Pittsburgh.
Bill Deely, the groundhog's handler, said Phil has seen his shadow 99 times in the
past 112 years. When the 15-pound rodent does not see his shadow, the forecast
changes to an early spring.
When Phil is not on stage, he spends most of his time in a posh, glass-enclosed
burrow at the Punxsutawney library. On Groundhog Day, he is transported to a
maple tree stump where Deely pulls him out and throngs of fans wait to see
whether Phil
will spot his shadow.
Last year, the event drew a record crowd of 30,000. John Hallman,
Punxsutawney's mayor, said this year's crowd was smaller because Groundhog
Day fell on a workday.
Legend has it Groundhog Day began as a simple bet between residents who were
bored by the long winter and wanted something to talk about.
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