Today in History—February 2: The Weather-Watching Whistle-pig

On this day in 1887, in a town in western Pennsylvania that barely qualified as a town, a group from the local Elks Lodge set out in the cold to find a rodent to predict the weather. The animal saw his shadow, which meant six more weeks of winter. This proved accurate—as long as you didn’t look farther west than the Mississippi.

The event marked the first official observance of what would come to be known as Groundhog Day. And the headlining rodent? That would be Punxsutawney Phil Sowerby, though he reserves his full name for legal matters, so you probably know him simply as Punxsutawney Phil, after the town now famous for the ritual.

The tradition is based on old lore: On February 2 the groundhog emerges from hibernation. If he sees his shadow, winter is sticking around; if he doesn’t, spring is near. The date came first. The ground squirrel—a groundhog is actually a squirrel—came later, drafted into meteorological service in America in the 1800s.

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But this custom isn’t really about the groundhog (even if you call it a whistle-pig, marmot, woodchuck, or land beaver). It’s about the changing of the seasons and the timeless hope for an early spring.

The event’s origins are far older than Punxsutawney. Some roots trace back to Candlemas, a Christian holiday developed about the 4th century, when people brought candles to church to be blessed in hopes of gracing households through the rest of winter. Folk belief held that fair, bright weather on Candlemas meant that winter would linger, while clouds suggested that spring was on the way—an idea echoed in songs dating to the 1500s.

The animal prognostication part came later, in Germany, and was tied to agricultural traditions of watching the sky and animal behavior to plan the coming farming season. Germany had badgers and hedgehogs. Pennsylvania had groundhogs.

Today Punxsutawney fully embraces the spectacle. After the 1993 Groundhog Day movie (filmed mostly in Illinois), Phil’s popularity grew. Each year visitors from around the world gather on a hillside at Gobbler’s Knob (an actual place) in the wee hours to await Phil’s ruling. He is ceremonially removed from his burrow by a member of the town’s Inner Circle (also a real thing), briefly consulted, and returned home.

The Inner Circle insists that the groundhog is the original Phil, supping at the cup of eternal life for decades. In reality, assuming the average lifespan of a groundhog in captivity, we’re probably on Phil number 13.

In the earliest observances of the event, before predictions were recorded, the groundhogs were eaten. Today the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club cares for Phil, who lives year-round in a burrow attached to the town library. He shares his residence with Phyllis. In 2024 the pair produced two baby groundhogs.

Naturally, they were named Shadow and Sunny.

Famous Birthdays

1778: Mary Anne Talbot—British adventuress

1927: Stan Getz—American jazz saxophonist

1905: Ayn Rand—American author

1958: Fiona Wood—Australian surgeon, invented spray-on skin