Weather Prediction

[R. Richard]

Punxsutawney Phil predicts six more weeks of winter. It's ridiculous to rely on the feeble efforts of a Pennsylvania groundhog for weather prediction. Here's what the champ (much better record) has to say:

Staten Island Chuck: Early spring in sight

More Print New York City's most famous groundhog, Staten Island Chuck, predicts it will be an early spring.

Mayor Bloomberg was on hand to help. He held up the groundhog and shouted: "Go Giants."

Chuck — whose formal name is Charles G. Hogg — made his prediction at the Staten Island Zoo.

Bloomberg handled him with heavy gloves. They became part of the mayor's fashion attire for the annual event after Chuck chomped on his finger in 2009.

Tradition holds that if the groundhog sees its shadow, winter could last six more weeks.

Chuck is at odds with Pennsylvania's pride and joy.

Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his lair to "see" his shadow on Thursday, in the process predicting six more weeks of winter.

 

[sr71plt]

I predict we'll continue having weather.

 

[Handley_Page]

The sunrise this morning was glorious.
Winter will keep coming for 6-8 weeks.

 

[mynameisben]

I love Groundhog Day for its quaint little traditions, and for the fact it has not yet been exploited by retailers as a make-or-break day of holiday spending. But Punxutawney Phil can pack it. With the possible exception of the Easter bunny, I don't place much stock in the prognostic powers of rodents. When I want weather, I turn to L.A.'s number one name in meteorology, KCAL-9's very own, Evelyn Taft.

Evelyn gets it right every time. My wife, however, is skeptical and slightly more inclined to beat me over the head with a groundhog.

"If she's so damn good, what's the weather going to be for tomorrow, dick weed?" she asks me, arms folded across her chest.

"Um..." I answer immediately, "her lips are still moving..." It was an ingenious stall tactic, I thought, granting myself time to remove the glazed look from my eyes before answering. But ever the helpful coach, she raises the bar on even that activity by winging the remote at my head.

Fearing another noggin crack, I sing like a canary, spilling every detail I absorbed from Evelyn's brilliant weather reporting.

"A warm front is moving in over the twin mountains, with daytime highs peaking at the nipples and overnight lows dipping down into the cleavage..."

"Uh, huh. That's exactly what I heard too." She snatches the remote from my hands and clicks over to the A & E Network, where they are hosting an all-night Jane Austin movie marathon, featuring girly man Hugh Grant.

"Hey! The Lakers game is coming on. Right now, right after the weather forecast!"

"You want a prediction about the weather? I'll give you a prediction," she storms back at me. Then, with a look that can send blood temperatures plummeting into the teens, she says, "It's gonna be cold, it's gonna be grey, and it's going to last you for the rest of your life."

 

[R. Richard]

I love Groundhog Day for its quaint little traditions, and for the fact it has not yet been exploited by retailers as a make-or-break day of holiday spending. But Punxutawney Phil can pack it. With the possible exception of the Easter bunny, I don't place much stock in the prognostic powers of rodents.

A bunny rabit is NOT a rodent. Rabbits are lagomorphs. specifically leporids.