Today is Groundhog Day, and it’s a safe bet many area residents who are tired of the bitter cold and snow we saw in January are hoping for a cloudy morning.Groundhog Day has its roots in a Scottish poem that promises: “If Candlemas be fair and bright, winter has another flight. If Candlemas brings clouds and rain, winter will not come again.”While many will be watching this morning to see if Punxsutawney Phil — the nation’s best-known weather-forecasting groundhog — sees his shadow in Pennsylvania, it’s doubtful most Americans actually take the weather forecasts of a rodent seriously. If one of these varmints sees his shadow, that means six more weeks of winter. On the other hand, a groundhog who casts no shadow is taken as a sign that spring is near.Since Groundhog Day falls exactly six calendar weeks before the vernal equinox, it’s easy to see the humor involved with this tradition. Whether Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow or not, the calendar says spring officially arrives March 20.Still, there are some ardent believers who say groundhogs are correct in their forecasting at least 75 percent of the time. Given the erratic and sometimes flat-out wrong weather forecasts we’ve received from human meteorologists in recent weeks, that’s not a bad percentage.At least when groundhogs get it wrong, they don’t blame it on a faulty computer model.
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