--- title: Groundhog Day: Phil Predicts 6 More Weeks Of Winter description: The groundhog Punxsutawney Phil predicted yet another late spring, seeing his shadow for six more weeks of winter canonical: https://time.com/4657714/groundhog-day-2017-punxsutawney-phil-sees-shadow/ author: Zamira Rahim article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-02T13:23:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T12:23:22.000Z article:section: U.S. og:title: Winter Is Staying Put: Punxsutawney Phil Just Saw His Shadow og:description: Punxsutawney Phil predicted yet another late spring og:url: https://time.com/4657714/groundhog-day-2017-punxsutawney-phil-sees-shadow/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt401357be40fb30c5/6988b87997cdfff7436af5a9/gettyimages-633510274.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Annual Winter Tradition Of Groundhog Day Celebrated In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Winter Is Staying Put: Punxsutawney Phil Just Saw His Shadow twitter:description: Punxsutawney Phil predicted yet another late spring twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt401357be40fb30c5/6988b87997cdfff7436af5a9/gettyimages-633510274.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Winter Is Staying Put: Punxsutawney Phil Sees His Shadow on Groundhog Day by [Zamira Rahim](/author/zamira-rahim/) ## Zamira Rahim Updated: Dec 13, 2023 12:23 PM CUTPublished: Feb 2, 2017 1:23 PM CUT  Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow predicting six more weeks of winter during 131st annual Groundhog Day festivities on February 2, 2017 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow predicting six more weeks of winter during 131st annual Groundhog Day festivities on February 2, 2017 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.Jeff Swensen—Getty Images by [Zamira Rahim](/author/zamira-rahim/) ## Zamira Rahim Updated: Dec 13, 2023 12:23 PM CUTPublished: Feb 2, 2017 1:23 PM CUT [Punxsutawney Phil](http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/crowds-gathered-gobblers-knob-groundhog-day-forecast-45211960 "undefined") has seen his shadow. The nation’s best-known groundhog predicted six more weeks of winter when he saw his shadow Thursday morning, predicting a longer winter, ABC News reports. [The traditional Groundhog Day event](http://time.com/3691918/groundhog-day/ "undefined") at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa. is the biggest of several similar celebrations held across the country. The forecast is actually decided in advance by the [Inner Circle](http://www.groundhog.org/about/inner-circle/ "undefined") of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, which is known for wearing tuxedos and takes care for Phil through the year. Phil has overwhelmingly predicted later springs, with earlier ones only having been predicted 18 times. The festivities are rooted in [an old German tradition](http://time.com/4650202/groundhog-day-history-2/ "undefined") in which it was believed that if the day was sunny and a hedgehog saw its shadow, the spring would come later. Settlers are thought to have brought the tradition to Pennsylvania. 2017’s event is the 131st celebration at Gobbler’s Knob. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4657714/groundhog-day-2017-punxsutawney-phil-sees-shadow/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4657714/groundhog-day-2017-punxsutawney-phil-sees-shadow/"},"headline":"Winter Is Staying Put: Punxsutawney Phil Sees His Shadow on Groundhog Day","datePublished":"2017-02-02T13:23:01.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T12:23:22.000Z","description":"Phil predicted yet another late Spring","url":"https://time.com/4657714/groundhog-day-2017-punxsutawney-phil-sees-shadow/","keywords":["Groundhog Day","Holidays","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt401357be40fb30c5/6988b87997cdfff7436af5a9/gettyimages-633510274.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zamira Rahim","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zamira-rahim/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt401357be40fb30c5/6988b87997cdfff7436af5a9/gettyimages-633510274.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Annual Winter Tradition Of Groundhog Day Celebrated In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania","caption":"Annual Winter Tradition Of Groundhog Day Celebrated In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania","creditText":"Jeff Swensen—Getty Images","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":"https://time.com/4657714/groundhog-day-2017-punxsutawney-phil-sees-shadow/","name":"Winter Is Staying Put: Punxsutawney Phil Sees His Shadow on Groundhog Day"}}]}] ```