Shadow or Sun? Punxsutawney Phil's Groundhog Day prediction is here

Punxsutawney Phil’s buzzing winter prediction has finally arrived, and for some it was not a brain drainer.

This year, the buzzing festival in the tiny town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, which declares itself the ‘weather capital of the world’ each Groundhog Day.

Sun or shadow, well, Phil has been keeping track of his previous years’ predictions.

The one and only Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow when he was plucked from his cozy den and stepped out into the bitter cold on Monday morning, February 2, 2026.

According to Phil, that means six more weeks of winter are ahead.

Phil serves as a furry meteorologist every February 2, called Groundhog Day.

On the contrary, if he doesn’t see his shadow, that means an early spring is on its way.

The truth is, the astronomical winter season ends on the spring equinox, known also as the vernal equinox, on March 20 at 10:46 a.m. ET, no matter what Phil predicted on Groundhog Day.

But the key to remember is weather conditions don’t always fall in line with the timetable, and neither does Phil.

What's Groundhog Day?

Groundhog Day is celebrated on every February 2, the midpoint between the shortest, darkest day of the year on the winter solstice and the spring equinox.

The festivities happen at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, located about 80 miles from Pittsburgh.

Last year’s winter solstice stretched for six more weeks of winter, by far Phil’s most common calculation and not much of a surprise during the first week of February.

Pennsylvanians of German descent have been watching for the annual emergence from hibernation of groundhogs for centuries.

In Punxsutawney, Philly Germans started celebrating the holiday in the 1880s by picnicking, eating groundhogs, and going out for hunting.