What’s up with this crazy holiday?  We have some fun facts to fill you in on Phil.

• The groundhog wakes up from hibernation on February 2.
• If the groundhog sees its shadow when it emerges from its burrow, there will be six more weeks of winter.
• If it does not see its shadow, spring will arrive soon.
• This tradition started in Europe as Candlemas Day. Germans who settled in Pennsylvania in the 1700s brought the custom to America
• The Germans originally chose a hedgehog as their animal forecaster. They turned to groundhogs instead when they discovered a large amount of them in Pennsylvania.
• Punxsutawney Phil is the official groundhog forecaster on February 2
• Phil’s full name, granted by the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, is Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather Prophet Extraordinary.
• Groundhogs typically weigh between 12 and 15 pounds; Phil is 22 pounds.
• Groundhogs only live six to eight years, but folklore suggests that Phil sips a magical drink that gives him seven more years of life
• Hibernation is similar to being in a coma. When groundhogs hibernate, their heart rates drop to five beats per minute and they can lose up to 30 percent of their body fat.
• Germans started the Groundhog Day. The see-his-shadow-or-not concept stems from Germany and the holiday, Candlemas, Early European Christians believed that if the sun came out on Candlemas (also February 2), winter would last for another six weeks.
• Flipping a coin is more accurate than Phil. The National Climatic Data Center compared U.S. national temperatures from 1988 to 2012 to determine the accuracy of Phil’s predictions, and he’s only been proven correct 39% of the time — significantly worse than chance.
• Approximately 40,000 people attend the Groundhog Day celebration in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania each February 2nd.
• The first Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney was held in 1886 and has been held each year since then.