Groundhog Day is celebrated every year on February 2. According to folklore, if a groundhog emerges from its burrow and sees its shadow, it gets scared back inside and there will be six more weeks of winter. If it doesn't see its shadow, spring will come early. Groundhog Day 2027 falls on Tuesday, February 2. Count down with days until Groundhog Day.
Groundhog Day dates
| Year | Date |
|---|---|
| 2027 | Tuesday, February 2 |
| 2028 | Wednesday, February 2 |
| 2029 | Friday, February 2 |
It isn't a public holiday, so schools, offices and banks are open as usual.
Where the tradition came from
Groundhog Day grew out of Candlemas, a Christian feast on February 2 that falls about halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. European folklore held that a sunny Candlemas meant a long winter, summed up in an old English rhyme that says if Candlemas is fair and bright, winter will have another flight.
In Germany, people watched a badger or hedgehog for its shadow. German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries brought the custom with them and adopted the local groundhog (woodchuck) instead.
The first published mention of Groundhog Day appeared in Punxsutawney's local newspaper in 1886, and the first official trip to Gobbler's Knob, the wooded hill outside town where the ceremony still takes place, followed in 1887.
Punxsutawney Phil and the ceremony
Punxsutawney, a small town in western Pennsylvania, hosts the most famous celebration. Members of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club's Inner Circle, dressed in top hats and tuxedos, gather at Gobbler's Knob before sunrise. Phil is brought out at about 7:25 AM, and the club announces his "prediction", traditionally said to be whispered to the club president in "Groundhogese".
Crowds of tens of thousands have attended in recent years, and the event is livestreamed. According to club lore, there has only ever been one Phil, kept alive by a sip of the "elixir of life" each summer. In reality, groundhogs live about 6 years in the wild and longer in captivity.
How accurate is the groundhog?
Not very. Phil sees his shadow far more often than not: the club's records list well over 100 predictions of more winter and only around 20 of an early spring. When the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) compared Phil's recent forecasts with actual US temperatures in February and March, it found he was right only about 35–40% of the time, worse than flipping a coin.
The bigger problem is the premise: "six more weeks of winter" after February 2 takes you to mid-March, right around the start of astronomical spring on March 20 anyway. See when do the seasons start. Weather depends on large-scale patterns, not on whether February 2 is sunny in one Pennsylvania town.
Other weather-forecasting animals
- Staten Island Chuck (New York City)
- General Beauregard Lee (Georgia)
- Buckeye Chuck (Ohio)
- Jimmy the Groundhog (Sun Prairie, Wisconsin)
- Wiarton Willie (Ontario) and Fred la marmotte (Quebec) in Canada
Some towns have switched to stuffed or plush groundhogs, and others use different animals entirely, such as lobsters in parts of New England and Nova Scotia.
The movie Groundhog Day (1993)
The comedy starring Bill Murray as a cynical TV weatherman who relives February 2 in Punxsutawney over and over made the holiday internationally famous. Most of it was actually filmed in Woodstock, Illinois, which now holds its own Groundhog Day festival. The film's success turned "Groundhog Day" into a common phrase for any situation that keeps repeating, and it was added to the US National Film Registry in 2006.
How to celebrate
- Watch the Gobbler's Knob livestream at sunrise.
- Hold a movie night with Groundhog Day.
- For classrooms: test the shadow idea with a flashlight, or track February and March weather to score the prediction.
- Make a "spring countdown" with days until spring or weeks until spring.
What comes next? After Groundhog Day, the next big dates are Valentine's Day on February 14 and Presidents' Day on the third Monday of February.
Frequently asked questions
What does it mean if the groundhog sees its shadow?
According to tradition, six more weeks of winter.
When is Groundhog Day 2027?
Tuesday, February 2, 2027.
Is Groundhog Day a federal holiday?
No. It's a folk tradition, and businesses and schools stay open.
What is a groundhog?
A large rodent in the marmot family, also called a woodchuck. Groundhogs hibernate in winter and are common across the eastern and central US and Canada.