Groundhog Says More Winter; Weather Seems to Disagree

Winter's going to last another six weeks here in . Or, maybe whatever season we're actually living in will last another six weeks.

Whatever the case, Punxsutawney Phil, the Pennsylvania groundhog famous for making extended-winter weather forecasts, had his annual 15-minutes in the spotlight this morning, and he saw his shadow.

So, it's another six weeks of winter. Or whatever season 40s and 50s in December, January and February is called—we'll get six more weeks of that.

It was 45 degrees on Feb. 1. The average high temperature is 25. And it's been like that for, what, the bulk of this wimpy winter? The upshot: heating bills are running 19 percent cheaper this year than on average according to the National Weather Service.

We've only had three, yes three, subzero nights so far this winter in the Twin Cities. The average for Feb. 1 is 19, and we generally have 30 by season's end.

Meanwhile, the Twin Cities has seen just 14.9-inches of snow this winter. The average is somewhere in the 40-inch neighborhood, and last year, we had already gotten 60.4-inches of fluff by Feb. 2.

If you're still rooting for winter, I have to apologize. It looks like Phil is wrong. According to meteorologist Paul Douglas,the mild, snow-less winter will likely continue.

"Unusually mild weather is forecast to linger into (at least) mid February. That's about as far out as we can look with any accuracy at all," he wrote on his blog at the Star Tribune. "More cold fronts are unavoidable, but I still believe the worst of winter, a wimpy winter at that, is in our rear view mirror."

He goes on to say the weather through mid-February will be "dry and milder than average, with highs mostly in the 30s through February 17. Still no significant snow in sight for most of Minnesota."

PHIL HISTORY

As you probably already know, every Feb. 2 Punxsutawney Phil, aka the world’s most famous groundhog, emerges (or rather, is pulled) from his burrow on Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, PA,  to predict the weather for the rest of the winter.

According to legend, if Phil sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of wintry weather. If he does not see his shadow, there will be an early spring.

The Groundhog Day celebration in Punxsutawney has been taking place since 1887 and attracts thousands of revelers from throughout the world every year on the holiday. The kooky celebration was further immortalized in 1993 when Bill Murray played a jaded weatherman doomed to repeat the same day over and over again in the classic film Groundhog Day.

For the record, Phil is right just 35 percent of the time. So go figure.