Groundhog Day: How to predict the weather today using the animal

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Today, February 2, Ukraine and a number of other countries around the world celebrate the annual holiday – Groundhog Day.

According to tradition, on this day you need to watch a groundhog climbing out of its burrow, and by its behavior you can predict the weather for the coming months.

The history of this holiday goes back to ancient times, when on February 2 according to the Gregorian calendar, Christians began to celebrate the Meeting of the Lord.

Even then, our ancestors considered this day responsible for the nature of the future weather.

The tradition of translating weather predictions into animals appeared in ancient Rome, where Hedgehog Day was celebrated annually on February 2. On this day, the Romans looked at the behavior of a hedgehog awakened from hibernation.

It is believed that the inhabitants of Western Europe preserved this tradition and transferred it to the USA, but hedgehogs were not found there, so the role of the four-legged weather forecaster passed to the groundhog.

Every year, the inhabitants of the USA watched the behavior of the groundhog. If the day when the groundhog comes out of the burrow is cloudy and the animal, not seeing its shadow, walks calmly – it means that winter will soon end, and spring will be early. If the weather is sunny on this day – the groundhog sees the shadow and returns – winter will last for another six weeks.

The center of the American tradition of predicting the weather with the help of the groundhog is the state of Pennsylvania. It was there that in 1841 the awakening of the rodent and its forecast were described. Later, events were given increasing importance: news about its prediction were written, people gathered to see the groundhog, and festivals were organized. Phil Connors, the main character of the movie “Groundhog Day” with Bill Murray, is going to such a festival.

It was after the movie “Groundhog Day” became a cult classic that the tradition of asking the animal for weather forecasts appeared in Ukraine.