Pennsylvanias “official state meteorologist” Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow on Sunday morning and predicts six weeks of winter.
The joyful occasion of Sunday was the 138th prognostication in Punxsutawney, located in Jefferson County. The festivities started at 6 am in a cold 20 degrees, and Phil appeared at 7:22 am the enthusiastic audience, it includes singing, dancing, live music and fireworks to strengthen the crowd prior to Phil’s prediction.
Josh Shapiro government, D-Pa., During the annual festivities in Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa., Sufficient for the ethical treatment of animals (PETA) requires the beloved animal to replace something vegan.
“There are a few people who said that we have to take this great tradition that has to extend all the way back to the 1880s and get rid of Phil and replace him with a cake,” Shapiro said for thousands of people. “If someone comes for Phil, they have to go through me and you all go. Are I right?”
Pennsylvania Gov revises the requirements of PETA on Punxsutawney Phil: ‘Come and Take It’
Josh Shapiro government, D-Pa., Speaks at a Groundhog Day event in Pennsylvania on 2 February 2025. (Gobbler’s button)
Shapiro added that he explained Phil the explained last year “Official state meteorologist” And that the Groundhog “is never wrong about the weather.” He teased Groundhog Day an official state of state.
The Governor has been to hand for every Groundhog Day Ceremony In Punxsutawney Since coming up in 2023.
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A large audience attends a Groundhog Day event in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania on 2 February 2025. (Gobbler’s button)
Peta President Ingrid Newkirk told the New York Post That Phil is denied the traditional lifestyle of a Groundhog “for a tired old gimmick.”
While Groundhog Day is considered a national holiday And is even popularized in the classic Bill Murray film from 1993 with the same name, the day – and Phil itself – a special place in the hearts of many Pennsylvanians.
The annual weather forecast ceremony is organized by the Groundhog Club Circle, a group of local dignitaries who provide Punxsutawney Phil and help in arranging special festivities.
Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow during Groundhog Day celebration on the Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, on 2 February 2025. (Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Although the weather forecast of Punxsutawney Phil is the people who gather, the prediction of the Groundhog for the big moment is made by the group at Gobbler’s Knob, a location that very close to Punxsutawney, about 65 miles away from Pittsburgh.
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In addition to the great ceremony in the west of Pa, the rest of the Commonwealth, many historical Pennsylvania German communities are the home of a “Grundsau Lodsch” or Groundhog lodge.
Carles Creitz and Ashlyn Messier from Fox News have contributed to this report.
