February 2, 2017 – Groundhog Day is today, Feb 2nd, 2017. In the little town of Punxsutawney, PA, at a place called Gobbler’s Knob, lives the legendary prognosticating groundhog “Punxsutawney Phil.” According to folklore, if Phil sees his shadow after emerging from his burrow on the morning of February 2nd, there will be six more weeks of winter. If Phil does not see his shadow, it foretells an early spring.
The accuracy of Phil’s prognostications depends on who you talk to. Phil’s “handlers” claim he is 90 percent accurate, others claim Phil is only 39% accurate, while others claim you should not use the groundhog’s shadow, or lack of a shadow, as a predictive tool for the entire United States.
By the way…Phil has been making his predictions since 1887…and 86 percent of the time…he has seen his shadow foretelling 6 more weeks of winter. Today adds one more as Phil’s handlers proclaimed that the prognosticating groundhog did indeed see his shadow. In interior northern California…cloudy skies and rain are forecast for Today.
You might be wondering if Phil can accurately predict the Super Bowl winner. A look at the statistics on Super Bowl winners when the “big game” was played on or after February 2nd, shows that when Phil saw his shadow, the American Conference team won 3 times and the National Conference team won 3 times.
When Phil did NOT see his shadow, the American Conference team won 3 times, and the National Conference team won twice. Looks like the groundhog is rather neutral on predicting a Super Bowl winner! Last year…the Super Bowl was played on February 7th 2016, and the American Conference team (Denver) beat the National Conference team (Carolina).