The US is recovering a bit from the freezing cold of the past few days – and the marmot Phil from the small town of Punxsutawney (Pennsylvania) makes people with his weather forecast great hope. On „marmot day“ the animal could not see its shadow according to own data.
This means that the harsh winter will not continue for six weeks, but a pleasantly warm spring is imminent. Thousands of people had spent the night in Punxsutawney at about ten degrees Celsius to see what was probably the world’s most famous weather forecast.
The ceremony is always the same: The members of the „Inner Circle“ of the Groundhog Club pick the groundhog out of its stump at daybreak. Then it is questioned. In marmot language, the „predictor of all predictors“ then gives its forecast.
Never wrong
For 133 years, Phil has always been right and not once wrong. If the actual weather did not match the prediction, it was a marmot language translation error, but by no means a false prediction, the Groundhog Club said.
Statistically, such a translation error occurred in more than 60 percent of the cases. Critics say the marmot prediction is less reliable than throwing a coin. The tradition, which is now being watched worldwide on 2 February, probably brought German settlers to Pennsylvania. Especially the Hollywood movie „Groundhog Day“ from 1993 with Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell in the leading roles made the tradition world-famous.
