Groundhog Day 2021: Punxsutawney Phil Predicts 6 More Weeks of Winter
Published Date: 2/2/2021
Source: Bloomberg Quicktake: Now
There will be six more weeks of winter, Punxsutawney Phil predicted as he emerged from his burrow on a snowy Tuesday morning to perform his Groundhog Day duties. Members of Phil's "inner circle" woke up the furry critter at 7:25 a.m. at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to see whether he would see his shadow or not. The prognosticator of prognosticators emerged at dawn. The lore goes that if he sees his shadow as he did this year, there will be six more weeks of winter. If he doesn't, spring comes early. Wearing top hats, members of the club summoned Phil from a new tree stump. A club member announced, "We have all passed through the darkness of night, but now see hope in morning's bright light. But now when I turn to see, there's a perfect shadow cast of me. Six more weeks of winter there will be." Because of the coronavirus pandemic, revelers weren't able to see Phil and celebrate in person. This year, it was all virtual and included cardboard cutouts to represent spectators. The livestream from Gobbler's Knob, a tiny hill just outside Punxsutawney about 65 miles (105 kilometers) northeast of Pittsburgh dates back to 1887. The annual event has its origin in a German legend about a furry rodent. Records dating to the late 1800s show Phil has predicted longer winters more than 100 times. The 2020 forecast called for an early spring — however, Phil didn't say anything about a pandemic. In its 135-year history, Phil has predicted winter 106 times and spring 20 times, the club said. Ten years were lost because no records were kept. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake: https://cor.us/surveys/27AF30 Connect with us on… YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BloombergQuickTakeNews Twitter: https://twitter.com/quicktake Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quicktake Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quicktake