Groundhog Day is an American holiday that is celebrated in both the United States and Canada, broadcasting from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

The mammal named Punxsutawney Phil emerges from its burrow to predict the weather for the upcoming year. If Phil sees his shadow, he will then disappear back into the ground and winter will persist for six more months. If he doesn’t, then early spring will come. 

While the holiday is a fun, traditional way to celebrate the seasons, the predictions are, for the most part, incorrect. Only about 36 percent of its predictions are correct, disproving the groundhog’s ability to predict the changing seasons.  

The tradition began in 1887, originating from German belief of the scarcity of the badger or bear. Once in America, the groundhog was chosen to continue the weather lore. Since then, it has become an annual holiday for Pennsylvania. 

Groundhog Day officially blew up and gained more traction once the movie by the same title screened in 1993, with more and more participants in this interesting celebration. While the movie itself isn’t directly contributed to the day, it piqued curiosity to its audience.

“I think it’s more of a superstitious thing, I don’t think it has much science behind it,” says dual enrollment student Sophia Perez. 

Perez’s first memory of Groundhog Day was from the “short film Jack Frost where the Groundhog and Jack Frost made a deal where he could sleep longer if Jack elongates winter so Jack Frost can be around people longer.”