On February 2, 1887, Groundhog Day, featuring a rodent meteorologist,was celebrated for the first time at Gobbler’s
Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. According to
tradition, if a groundhog comes out of its hole on this day
and sees its shadow, it gets scared and runs back into its
burrow, predicting six more weeks of winter weather; no
shadow means an early spring.

Groundhog Day has its roots in the ancient Christian
tradition of Candlemas, when clergy would bless and
distribute candles needed for winter. The candles
represented how long and cold the winter would be.

Germans expanded on this concept by selecting an
animal—the hedgehog—as a means of predicting
weather. Once they came to America, German settlers
in Pennsylvania continued the tradition, although they
switched from hedgehogs to groundhogs, which were
plentiful in the Keystone State.