According to Phil...

Punxsutawney Phil has spoken and, as usual, the news isn't good. The world famous furry forecaster emerged from his burrow this Groundhog Day morning, wrapped in a Terrible Towel, and saw his shadow. His handler then read the following proclamation of six more weeks of "mild" winter weather.

"It is said that imitation is a serious form of flattery
Around the country there are many imitators of me
In Harrisburg there is Gus who appears on TV
Working for the lottery

Then all around town cute groundhog statues abound
They all look like me I've found
Today on the Knob, as I'm doing my job
I don't like this likeness of me
Its my shadow I see
Six more weeks of mild winter weather there will be."

Given the unseasonably mild winter weather this morning, I would have expected a prediction of an early spring. It wasn't very likely, though. According to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, Phil has seen his shadow 95 times, and hasn't seen it 14 times. There are nine years with no records. In the years since the first Groundhog Day proclamation in 1886, the small town of Punxsutawney (population 7,500), about 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh has been dubbed the "Weather Capital of the World."