Video: Watch the groundhog’s 2024 prediction — an early spring may be on its way

Eva Terry
·2 min read
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Groundhog Club handler A.J. Dereume holds Punxsutawney Phil, the weather prognosticating groundhog, during the 138th celebration of Groundhog Day on Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa., on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. Phil’s handlers said that the groundhog has forecast an early spring.
Groundhog Club handler A.J. Dereume holds Punxsutawney Phil, the weather prognosticating groundhog, during the 138th celebration of Groundhog Day on Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa., on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. Phil’s handlers said that the groundhog has forecast an early spring. | Barry Reeger, Associated Press

Though his predictions have only been correct about 30% of the time in the past decade, Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early spring in 2024.

Over 20,000 people gathered in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to attend the 138th annual ceremony, as the New York Post estimated.

Events began Thursday afternoon with “Gobbler’s Knob Got Talent,” and crowds began showing up at Gobbler’s Knob Grounds at 3 a.m. Friday morning for the animal’s famous weather prediction.

Dan McGinley, the vice president of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club and alleged “Groundhogese” speaker, read from a scroll Punxsutawney Phil wrote, declaring, “What this weather did not provide is a shadow or reason to hide. Glad tidings on this Groundhog Day, an early spring is on its way.”

Before declaring an early spring, McGinley read Phil’s scroll:

“Another winter slumber paused, so I could meet the crowd.
Hard to sleep anyway when the party’s this loud.
I envy your energy, I envy the fun,
I envy all of you and your opposable thumbs.
But it’s not what I feel, it’s what I see and what you hear,
so gather round, and let me be clear:
Atmosphere is a wonderful thing,
And we can create our own and the weather it brings.
It brings hope for the future and so much more,
Maybe some ‘Punxsutawney Phil’ write-in votes in 2024.”

The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club keeps a running list of groundhog predictions since the tradition began in 1886.

The record shows the groundhog is much more likely to declare six more weeks of winter than to predict an early spring. Since 1886, the groundhog has seen his shadow 103 times, compared with not seeing it a mere 18. The committee failed to record what the groundhog said on 10 different years.

If something out of the ordinary happens during a Groundhog Day ceremony, the Groundhog Club has a tradition of taking note of it. In 1937, they humorously recorded an “unfortunate meeting with a skunk,” which was followed in 1938 by the “blackest shadow in history.”