Watch the Groundhog Day 2025 ceremony video and see Punxsutawney Phil spot his shadow
PUNXSUTAWNEY (KDKA) — Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his stump at Gobbler's Knob Sunday morning as thousands waited to see if the groundhog would see his shadow.
Phil saw his shadow, which he believes to be an omen of six more weeks of winter. Here's how his prediction went down.
Video of Groundhog Day 2025
Crowds of Phil fanatics gathered early Sunday morning for the 139th Groundhog Day, waiting for the Prognosticator of Prognosticators to make his prediction. The ceremony began at 6 a.m., but shuttles began busing people to Gobbler's Knob hours before.
After the crowd was pumped up, the Inner Circle — the guys in the top hats and tuxes — arrived at Gobbler's Knob around 7 a.m. as part of their annual trek. The Inner Circle includes Phil's handler and the only man who can speak Groundhogese, president Tom Dunkel.
With his cane, which he claims allows him to talk to Phil, Dunkel knocked on the burrow door. It took a few seconds to pull a seemingly reluctant Phil out of his stump, then he was lifted up high for all to see.
Phil was placed on top of his stump, where he discussed his prediction to Dunkel. A scroll was selected and unrolled with a flourish.
"What a way to start a Sunday Funday. You always said you'd make it here one day, to this place barely big enough to contain ya, to this sweet Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania," the scroll began. "We're all here with the elements combined where Mother Nature meets Father Time. To hear the truth, are those gray skies? Only I know you can't trust AI."
Then came Phil's prediction.
"It's Groundhog Day and maybe life is on a loop, but I miss my burrow, I miss my coop. So I'm heading back down, there's a shadow up here. Get ready for six more weeks of winter this year."
Phil's prediction was met with a roar from the crowd, with a mix of cheering and booing.
The lore behind Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day on Feb. 2 marks the midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. This time of year also ties into the Christian holiday of Candlemas, which, through an old folk song, became associated with weather prognostication.
The practice of watching an animal emerge from hibernation has roots in a similar German tradition involving badgers or bears. Pennsylvania Germans seemingly substituted the groundhog.
Punxsutawney Phil and his Groundhog Club made the first official trek to Gobbler's Knob in 1887. The Inner Circle is tasked with carrying on the tradition of Groundhog Day and protecting Phil's legend.
If you ask the Inner Circle, Phil, granted immortality from the "elixir of life" he drinks every summer, has been getting the weather right every single year for 139 years. If you ask the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, it's more about 35%.
Whether you believe the groundhog or the scientists, one thing's for sure: the holiday is all about fun.
"There are a lot of serious things happening in and around the world today and Groundhog Day is not one of them," Inner Circle President Thomas Dunkel told KDKA-TV last year.
