HEADS - Anything that starts with the letter G
And the first thing that came to my mind was:
GROUNDHOG!!
When you go through winters like the ones we endure, Groundhog's Day is of vital importance. I have, however, wondered how well Phil does in his forecasting. Here's a record of his predictions. (All information, including the photo is copyrighted by the Punxsutawney Chamber of Commerce.
The groundhog's seasonal forecasting accuracy is somewhat low.
Phil's Winter prognostications have been correct only 39% of the time.
1887 Shadow; first official trip to Gobbler's Knob.
1888 Shadow (Six more weeks of Winter!)
1889 no record
1890 NO Shadow (early Spring!)
1891 no record
1892 no record
1893 no record
1894 no record
1895 no record
1896 no record
1897 no record
1898 Shadow
1899 no record
1900 Shadow
1901 Shadow
1902 NO Shadow
1903 Shadow
1904 Shadow
1905 Shadow
1906 Shadow
1907 Shadow
1908 Shadow
1909 Shadow
1910 Shadow
1911 Shadow
1912 Shadow
1913 Shadow at 8:08 AM; first newspaper photo of Groundhog Day by John Frampton.
1914 Shadow at 9:34 AM
1915 Shadow at 11:45 AM; named Wiley William Woodchuck!
1916 Shadow at 9:07 AM; first films of Groundhog Day ceremony.
1917 Shadow
1918 Shadow; 18 degrees below zero.
1919 Shadow [Birthdate: Forrest Tucker, actor]
1920 Shadow
1921 Shadow at 7:17 AM
1922 Shadow at 7:11 AM; Groundhog Holiday Dance.
1923 Shadow
1924 Shadow at 7:13 AM
1925 Shadow at 8:13 AM;
1926 Shadow at 9:17 AM
1927 Shadow at 8:35 AM;
1928 Shadow at 10:00 AM; program with Punx'y Rotary Club on KDKA Radio.
1929 Shadow
1930 Shadow at 7:11 AM
1931 Shadow at 12:27 PM
1932 Shadow at 9:11 AM
1933 Shadow
1934 NO Shadow.
1935 Shadow at 9:11 AM
1936 Shadow at 10:27 AM
1937 Shadow at 9:09 AM; early morning encounter with a skunk!
1938 Shadow at 9:05 AM; "darkest shadow in history"
1939 Shadow at 9:10 AM
1940 Shadow at 9:00 AM
1941 Shadow at 4:25 PM
1942 Partial Shadow at 7:40 AM; "War clouds have blacked out parts of the shadow."
1943 Groundhog did not appear; relied on Quarryville's prediction.
1944 Shadow at 9:10 AM
1945 Shadow at 9:00 AM
1946 Shadow at 7:52 AM
1947 Shadow at 7:37 AM; first newspaper photo of Groundhog Club at Gobbler's Knob
1948 Shadow at 8:46 AM
1949 Shadow at 7:32 AM
1950 NO Shadow
1951 Shadow at 8:41 AM
1952 Shadow at 7:52 AM; on NBC's Today Show on Monday, February 4
1953 Shadow at 7:38 AM;
1954 Shadow at 8:03 AM
1955 Shadow at 8:51 AM; 4" of snow on Groundhog Day;
1956 Shadow at 8:33 AM
1957 Shadow at 7:47 AM;
1958 Shadow at 8:27 AM;
1959 Shadow at 8:23 AM
1960 Shadow at 7:33 AM; forecasts extremely bad weather on the Today show.
1961 Shadow at 7:41 AM; 25 below zero.
1962 Shadow at 7:29 AM;
1963 Shadow at 7:41 AM
1964 Shadow at 7:35 AM
1965 Shadow at 7:58 AM
1966 Shadow at 7:21 AM
1967 Shadow at 7:25 AM
1968 Shadow at 7:29 AM
1969 Shadow at 7:29 AM
1970 NO Shadow
1971 Shadow at 7:29 AM; 14 below zero.
1972 Shadow at 7:30 AM
1973 Shadow at 7:29 AM
1974 Shadow at 7:28 AM
1975 NO Shadow
1976 Shadow at 7:29 AM
1977 Shadow at 7:27; in midst of the energy crisis.
1978 Shadow at 7:28 AM
1979 Shadow at 7:28 AM
1980 Shadow at 7:29 AM
1981 Shadow at 7:27 AM
1982 Shadow at 7:26 AM; coldest January this Century.
1983 NO Shadow; predicted an early Spring after a mild El Nino Winter.
1984 Shadow at 7:04 AM
1985 Shadow at 7:28 AM
1986 NO Shadow; visited President Reagan at the White House in March.
1987 Shadow at 7:29 AM
1988 NO Shadow
1989 Shadow
1990 NO Shadow
1991 Shadow
1992 Shadow
1993 Shadow; the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray is released.
1994 Shadow at 7:28 AM
1995 NO Shadow; afternoon guest on the "Oprah Winfrey" TV Show.
1996 Shadow at 7:21 AM
1997 NO Shadow; 35,000 watched at Gobbler's Knob
1998 Shadow at 7:20 AM; predicting six more weeks of a mild El Nino Winter!
1999 NO Shadow at 7:23 AM; 37º rain
2000 Shadow at 7:28 AM; 12º overcast skies with flurries
2001 Shadow at 7:27 AM; 28º cloudy skies with light snow
2002 Shadow at 7:25 AM; 19º mist with a record 38,000 visitors
2003 Shadow at 7:27 AM; 30º overcast skies with PA Governor Ed Rendell attending
2004 Shadow at 7:27 AM; 17º clear skies with snow on the ground, crowd boos the forecast!
2005 Shadow at 7:31 AM; 14º clear skies with a wind chill of 3ºF.
2006 Shadow at 7:23 AM; 36º overcast skies with the crowd cheering the Steelers in Super Bowl XL.
2007 NO Shadow at 7:28 AM; 26º overcast skies with light snow and mist under a Full Moon.
2008 Shadow at 7:27 AM; 28º fog and mist with the crowd booing six more weeks of Winter.
11 comments:
I've always felt a bit sorry for the poor groundhog ...lol.. I would run back in my burrow too if I woke up to something like he does! My heads or tales is up at this site
My brother's birthday is Groundhog Day.
I wonder if a groundhog is any more or less qualified to predict the weather than your average television weatherman.
this one is new to me. thanks for sharing and thanks for visiting my hot.
Some of that was so funny (like the early morning encounter with a skunk)... LOL...
Ah.. the poor beleaguered groundhog! What a good choice for the theme this week!
Good choice for the theme.
I am learning lots this week! Such a variety.
I did think of groundhogs myself but it would have made my gardening entry long!
Good information! Thanks! I always watch to see what he forecasts!
i have only ever seen the film ground hog day. guess that comes from being in the uk lol
thanks for stopping by my hot :)
I’m catching up on HoTs today after being gone all day yesterday. I love this … especially all the previous predictions of the groundhog over the years. Actually Groundhog Day is my all time favorite film!!! Thanks for dropping by mine at Small Reflections yesterday.
Hugs and blessings,
Ever since I was a kid I always looked forward to the groundhog's predictions. :) Happy belated HOT day, and thank you for having stopped by my own HOT entry earlier :)
Thanks to all of you for dropping by. I'm glad you enjoyed my take on things.
cjh
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