Punxsutawney Phil sees outline, predicts extra winter ahead

If you judge in tradition, package up for six more weeks of freezing weather.

This is Groundhog Day, and the hairy tiny critter identified as Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning. That, according to folklore, means six extra weeks of winter.

The apathetic-looking rodent was pulled from his stump by members of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club internal Circle. They are the local businessmen in the Western Pennsylvania town who bear out the February 2nd sacrament while garbed in peak hats and tuxedos.

The ceremony was preceded by a energetic celebration attended by thousands of cold, but happy people, including a few couples who used the juncture to get engaged.

The town of Punxsutawney leads the modern adherence of what is essentially a German superstition. The belief is that if a hibernating animal casts a shadow on February 2nd, the Christian holiday of Candlemas, winter would last another six weeks. If no shadow were seen, legend said spring would come early.