5 Facts You Didn’t Know About Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day is coming up on Thursday, February 2, 2017. It's a closely watched tradition here in the Green Mountain State. The coming of Spring signals the end of ski season for snow lovers, and the coming of warmer weather for the less cold hardy. Here are 5 facts about Groundhog Day that you probably didn't know:

1. Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow 97 times, has not seen it 15 times, and nine years are unaccounted for. 
    
2. The National Climatic Data Center reportedly stated that Phil’s predictions have been correct 39% of the time. This number is in conflict with Phil’s Club, which states he’s been right 100% of the time. 
    
3. According to the funny website groundhog.org, there’s a legend that during Prohibition, Phil threatened to impose 60 weeks of winter on the community if he wasn’t allowed a drink.
    
4. In the years following the release of Groundhog Day, a 1993 film starring Bill Murray, crowds numbering as high as 30,000 have visited Gobbler’s Knob, a tiny hill where the ceremony takes place in Punxsutawney, PA.
    
5. Though groundhogs typically live only six to eight years, Groundhog Day lore suggests that Phil drinks a magic elixir every summer, which gives him seven more years of life.