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Punxsutawney Phil Predicts Six More Weeks of Winter

BUNDLE UP

On Thursday morning, the beloved Pennsylvanian groundhog saw his shadow for the third year in a row, predicting an extended winter this year.

A man holds up Punxsutawney Phil for the 2023 Groundhog Day celebration.
Alan Freed/Reuters

Keep those winter coats out, because Punxsutawney’s world-famous groundhog just predicted six more weeks of winter for 2023, the Associated Press reports. On Thursday, thousands gathered in the small Pennsylvania town for the annual Groundhog Day celebration. At dawn, Phil the groundhog’s caretakers—a group of individuals who feed and care for the critter throughout the year—coaxed him out of his tree stump at dawn for the moment of truth. For the third year in a row, Phil saw his own shadow, marking an extended winter rather than an early spring. Over the last 10 years, Phil has had a 40 percent success rate—though with a powerful winter storm hitting the South and Midwestern United States this week, his prediction may not be too far off this year.

Read it at Associated Press

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