WSET.com - ABC13Groundhog Day by Matt Ferguson

Today (Wednesday) is Groundhog Day and the most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow this morning outside his burrow in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. According to legend, when he doesn't see his shadow, because of cloudy weather, an early spring can be expected. If it's a sunny day he is startled by his shadow, jumping back into this burrow, anticipating six more weeks of winter.

Groundhog Day can be traced all the way back to Germans who moved to America. They carried with them the tale of Candlemas Day, which says "For as the sun shines on Candlemas day, so far will the snow swirl in May..." The early settlers decided to change it to Groundhog Day because of the numerous groundhogs in Pennsylvania. In the 1800's, February 2nd was designated Groundhog Day, as the first part of February is when they would begin seeing groundhogs emerge from their winter burrows.

For more information about Punxsutawney Phil you can visit the official website: www.groundhog.org.

Ok, so Phil is forecasting an early start to spring, so here are my thoughts on the rest of the winter. Temperatures for the first half of February look to remain below to near normal. Then by the second half of the month a temperature reversal occurs. At that time, look for a much milder weather pattern across the Southeast, including our state. This should stick around through early March, before one last very cold period arrives for the last half of March into early April. As far as precipitation, anticipate below to near normal rain and snowfall totals through the rest of the winter. A large snowstorm is possible by winter's end, but that will only occur if we can get a perfect collision of cold arctic air and a strong storm system from the Gulf of Mexico or Atlantic.