That dang rodent saw his shadow this morning so will be a long winter. And after another full day with below zero wind chills, I wanted a shorter winter. Although Jimmy the Groundhog in the southern part of the state didn’t see his shadow so Jimmy will have an earlier spring, but then he lives farther south.
Long Winter Prediction
At sunrise today, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow so the legends says six more weeks of winter. But Wisconsin’s Jimmy the Groundhog didn’t see his shadow so warmer weather is around the corner. Other than Jimmy must not have heard about the deep freeze coming later this week. And if they used sunset instead of sunrise, then Jimmy saw his shadow too. But either way, if winter was only six more weeks it would better than several more months.
Shadow or No Shadow
According to Jimmy the Groundhog, Wisconsin’s official weather forecasting rodent, spring will come early which is good news after this week’s arctic blast. But Jimmy probably doesn’t appreciate getting tossed out of bed to make his prediction at sunrise especially if he stayed up late partying on Friday night. He did bite the ear of the mayor in 2015 so he must have been crabbier that year.
Rodent Predicts Early Spring
No groundhog in its right mind would venture out this morning when the temperature was barely above zero, but several of them were thrust out early in the morning to look for its shadow. Jimmy, the Sun Prairie groundhog in Wisconsin, saw his shadow so winter will be a long one.
The Groundhog Day tradition in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin dates back to 1948, when Wisconsin celebrated its centennial year and an artist sought to bring the state together for the occasion. A commercial artist, Ira Bennett, of Eau Claire, Wisconsin and his young son decided to create a series of commemorative post cards relating various locations in Wisconsin to the holidays throughout the year. Some of the cities chosen were: Port Washington, Wisconsin for Washington’s Birthday, Independence, Wisconsin for July 4th, Loyal, Wisconsin for Boy Scout Sunday (a scout is loyal). Groundhog Day required a stretch of the imagination. The groundhog sees his shadow when the sun comes up on the prairie, thus, Sun Prairie was picked for the honor.
And the Sun Prairie Jimmy the Groundhog made the 2015 winter prediction slightly more exciting when he bit the ear of Mayor Jon Freund during the celebration.
Predicting a Long Winter
Well since it was cloudy this morning because of the snow storm coming, Jimmy the Groundhog from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, did not see his shadow so supposedly spring will come early. Although by tomorrow morning he would have to climb up through a lot more snow.
The more famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, also sees early spring, but Jimmy received more notice last Groundhog Day when Jimmy bite the mayor’s ear when the mayor leaned in to hear the weather prediction. Afterward, authorities told Jimmy’s owners they needed a license to own a groundhog and the decision was made to release the groundhog back into his native habitat.
But a new Jimmy, Jimmy XII, made the prediction this year, as someone with a license for a groundhog, brought a groundhog for the celebration, but Jimmy stayed in the cage this year so no chance to bite the mayor’s ear for waking him up early in the morning.
Groundhog Predicts Early Spring
I didn’t need a rodent to tell me winter would continue six weeks longer. It has been a long winter already. Punxsutawney Phil and Wisconsin’s Jimmy both saw their shadow signifying winter will persist longer.
According to legend, Groundhog Day is based in part on Candlemas and weather on the hallway point between winter and spring was important as old English sayings states, “If Candlemas be fair and bright, come winter have another flight. If Candlemas brings cloud and rain, go winter, and not come again.”
In addition to Candlemas, Groundhog Day is also supposedly based on Roman belief that if early February was sunny and a hedgehog casts a shadow, then winter temperatures will persist for six more weeks.
The German immigrants settling in Pennsylvania, melded the traditions and lacking hedgehogs, substituted native groundhogs, also known as a woodchuck, and Groundhog Day began.
Farmers in the north, knew winter was not close to the end, whether or not the marmot saw his shadow or not on February 2, so their saying was “Groundhog Day – Half your hay” which meant if that if the farmer didn’t have half his hay remaining, there may have been lean times for the cows before spring and fresh grass arrived.
And with the lack of hay from the drought and the high snow piles, I think the farmers will need more hay than that.
Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day is a day celebrated on February 2 across the United States and Canada.
It is based on a belief that on this day the groundhog, or woodchuck, comes out of hole after winter hibernation to look for its shadow. A celebration which began as a Pennsylvania German custom in the early 1800s. An entry in a 1841 diary refers to Groundhog Day.
According to folklore, if it is cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow, then spring will come early, which I thought would be the case this morning since it was snowing when I went to bed last night. But the sun was out bright this morning so the groundhog will see its shadow and retreat back into its burrow, and the winter weather will continue for six more weeks. (Although winter probably will be longer than just six weeks this year.)
With the ice and snow on the ground, my weather predicting woodchuck would probably climb a tree to prevent his feet from sticking to the ice. There he can keep his feet a little warmer and see for miles the snow covered landscape and he definitely would hibernate for another couple of months.
Weather Predicting Groundhog
