Observing Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day dates back to the late 1800s, when a groundhog would emerge from hibernation and look for its shadow. As the tradition goes, if the groundhog sees its shadow, we will have six more weeks of winter, but if there is no shadow, we will have an early spring. Luckily the Bay Area is home to a healthy population of groundhogs for you to observe and predict the coming weather. Hedgehogs are 

While the Bay Area has wild groundhogs, some cities in the United States are home to their own resident meteorologist.  Perhaps the most famous groundhog is Punxsutawney Phil in Pennsylvania, who has been predicting the weather for almost 150 years. For over a century he has been predicting the coming weather amongst many other celebrity groundhogs such as Staten Island Pete, Buckeye Chuck in Marion, Ohio, and Pierre C. Shadeaux, a Cajun groundhog in Louisiana. Unfortunately, the Bay Area is still working on finding its candidate for Groundhog Day, but they can be found poking their heads out in most parks and hiking trails. 

The legends of weather-predicting animals originated in England, France, and Germany. England and France used a bear, while Germany used a badger, and it was the German immigrants during the mid-19th century who sought to continue this historical tradition. When they settled there were no badgers to be found, instead they found groundhogs. Over time the tradition caught on all over America; today we are the only country still celebrating the holiday.