Welcome to February, the second month that we commonly misspell. Like seriously, why is that first R there? It’s annoying.

Anyway, on the second day of the second month, we see if a groundhog will screw things over. Groundhog Day derives from a Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerges from a burrow and sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t see it, spring will come early.

It’s also known as that one day that Bill Murray keeps reliving. Also, did you know that the Groundhog Day movie was actually filmed in Woodstock, Illinois? That’s only about an hour away from Warren. Neat.

The most famous Groundhog Day festival happens in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, where a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil emerges from that burrow and predicts the weather. He speaks to the members of the Inner Circle in “Groundhogese”, and that is subsequently translated into either six more weeks of winter or an early spring.

Phil is apparently immortal as well, as he has lived since the first ceremony in 1886. A legend says he drinks an “elixir of life” every summer. In reality, groundhogs only live around 2-3 years in the wild and only up to 10-14 years in capitivity, which means there have around 13-30 Phils that have existed.

So what about this year, 2026? Well, it seems like Phil has seen his shadow this year, which means six more years of winter. The last few days haven’t really felt like winter, with temperatures getting up to the low 60’s. We are getting back to colder temperatures though, sadly. However, nothing has proved that a magical groundhog can actually predict the weather, so maybe just focus on your local meteorologists. But if you want to, you can believe in the magic of Punxsutawney Phil.

Winter does suck, though. Maybe I should start hating this guy…  nah.