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Groundhog Day is traditionally a weather prediction day. If a
groundhog wakes up, emerges from his hole and sees his shadow this
means six more weeks of winter will follow. Seeing groundhog shadow
usually happens in the clear and cold weather, and groundhog normally
runs back to his hole after seeing his shadow and frightened by a cold
weather. If, however, the weather is cloudy when groundhog appears
from his hole, this means warmer temperatures, and the end of winter
is predicted with spring coming early.
The tradition of weather forecast by groundhogs goes back to the fifth
century when European Celts thought that certain animals possessed
special powers to accurately predict the weather for the coming weeks.
This happened on the days exactly in the middle between Spring Equinox
and Winter Solstice. Tales from ancient Germans support the idea that
when bears and groundhogs emerged from their dens and holes too early they
naturally got scared of their own shadows and went back to their
winter hibernating places for the next six weeks. Scott folklore shows
that groundhogs were thought to possess supernatural powers and even
healing powers.
The earliest known mention of the
Groundhog Day holiday in United
States is February 4, 1841 in Morgantown, Pennsylvania, when the local
merchant James Morris wrote in his diary "if the groundhog comes out
and sees his shadow he will go back for another six weeks, and there
will be another six weeks of winter. However if the groundhog does not
see his shadow due to the cloudy weather, the end of winter and early
spring will follow with warmer temperatures." |
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