the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, You might be familiar with Groundhog Day from the 1993 film in which a TV weatherman experiences the same day repeatedly. In this iconic movie, Bill Murray’s character covers the annual celebration over and over, putting Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, on the map.
According to Variety, Punxsutawney typically welcomed around 15,000-30,000 tourists for the holiday, but that number increased to 35,000 the year after the release of “Groundhog Day.” Since then, both Punxsutawney and Woodstock, the nearby filming location, have become hosts for Groundhog Day events, drawing in tourists.
Groundhog Day in 2024 falls on Friday, Feb. 2. Although not a federal holiday, Americans eagerly await the famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, to see if he sees his shadow on the same day each year.
The festivities occur at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. The celebration is open to the public, and spectators can enter the grounds starting at 3 a.m. Leading up to and after the prediction, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club organizes talent shows, banquets, and performances.
Groundhog Day is rooted in the Christian holiday Candlemas, marking the midpoint between the winter solstice and spring equinox. During Candlemas, Christians predicted the duration of winter by lighting candles. The first official Groundhog Day took place on February 2, 1887, in Punxsutawney. The celebration found a permanent home at Gobbler’s Knob the following year, and a newspaper editor declared Phil, a Punxsutawney groundhog, the true predictor.
Today, the “Inner Circle” of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club oversees the ceremony, taking care of and feeding Punxsutawney Phil. If Phil sees his shadow, legend has it that there will be six more weeks of winter.
According to the Stormfax Almanac, Phil has gotten it right only 39% of the time. Phil’s prognostication occurs in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, around 7:28 a.m. EST on Groundhog’s Day. In 2023, Phil saw his shadow at 7:25 a.m., meaning six more weeks of winter, but that prediction did not hold true.
However, like the weatherman , politicians, bureaucrats and so called climate experts the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration states that the groundhog has “no predictive skill” and has been accurate only about 40% of the time.
Monitoring NOAA’s seasonal temperature outlook is “more reliable”, with predictions indicating above-normal temperatures in February, March, and April 2024 for the northernmost states, particularly New England and the Pacific Northwest, while most of Texas is expected to experience below-average temperatures. Warm-weather predictions are influenced in part by El Niño, a natural climate pattern.
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I will be off, I always use a vacation day Groundhog Day. Oh yes,
This is every day at Ridgewood’s Village Hall with this shady Mayor and Majority council of bad actors.
Same old ****, different day and year.
Does that mean no garbage pickup?