--- description: Who needs the weather service when you have Phil? title: Punxsutawney Phil Predicts an Early Spring image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt508736ff1ec32db7/69887bc8f887dc51cce946c4/groundhog-day-punxsutawney-phil-winter-spring.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [weather](/tag/weather/) ## weather Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Groundhog Day: Punxsutawney Phil Does Not See His Shadow and Predicts an Early Spring by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 2, 2016 12:56 PM CUT  Groundhog co-handler John Griffiths holds up Punxsutawney Phil after Phil's annual weather prediction on Gobbler's Knob, on the 130th Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, Pa., Feb. 2, 2016. Groundhog co-handler John Griffiths holds up Punxsutawney Phil after Phil's annual weather prediction on Gobbler's Knob, on the 130th Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, Pa., Feb. 2, 2016.Alan Freed—Reuters by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 2, 2016 12:56 PM CUT The world’s most famous groundhog [did not see his shadow on Tuesday morning](http://www.vox.com/2016/2/2/10893320/groundhog-day-shadow-results-punxsutawney-phil-2016 "undefined"), divining that there will be warmer temperatures and an early spring. Punxsutawney Phil made his 130th prediction during the annual Feb. 2 event that sees thousands of people gather by Gobbler’s Knob, a hill outside town in Punxsutawney, Pa. According to analysis from the [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration](http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/customer-support/education-resources/groundhog-day "undefined"), which tracks climate data in the U.S., Phil is not the most accurate meteorologist. The last time two times he successfully predicted the weather were in 2014 and in 1999. > [](https://twitter.com/JuliaHatmaker/status/694496239140868096) During the Groundhog Day ceremony at sunrise, Phil is retrieved from his mock tree stump and held up by helpers in a top hat, who check to see whether his shadow is visible. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4203970/groundhog-day-punxsutawney-phil-shadow-spring/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4203970/groundhog-day-punxsutawney-phil-shadow-spring/"},"headline":"Groundhog Day: Punxsutawney Phil Does Not See His Shadow and Predicts an Early Spring","datePublished":"2016-02-02T12:56:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:40:35.780Z","description":"Who needs the weather service when you have Phil?","url":"https://time.com/4203970/groundhog-day-punxsutawney-phil-shadow-spring/","keywords":["weather"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt508736ff1ec32db7/69887bc8f887dc51cce946c4/groundhog-day-punxsutawney-phil-winter-spring.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara John","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-john/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt508736ff1ec32db7/69887bc8f887dc51cce946c4/groundhog-day-punxsutawney-phil-winter-spring.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Groundhog co-handler Griffiths holds up groundhog Punxsutawney Phil after Phil's annual weather prediction on Gobbler's Knob on the 130th Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney","caption":"Groundhog co-handler John Griffiths holds up Punxsutawney Phil after Phil's annual weather prediction on Gobbler's Knob, on the 130th Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, Pa., Feb. 2, 2016.","creditText":"Alan Freed—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/weather/","name":"weather"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4203970/groundhog-day-punxsutawney-phil-shadow-spring/","name":"Groundhog Day: Punxsutawney Phil Does Not See His Shadow and Predicts an Early Spring"}}]}] ```