Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day is a traditional national holiday in the United States and Canada, celebrated annually on February 2. It is believed that on this day you need to watch a marmot climbing out of his hole, and his behavior can be judged about the proximity of the onset of spring. If the day is cloudy, the groundhog does not see its shadow and calmly leaves the hole - winter will soon end, and early spring this year is expected. If the day is sunny, the groundhog sees its shadow and hides back in the hole - there will be another six weeks of winter. In several cities and settlements of the United States and Canada, festivals dedicated to local meteorological marmots are held on this day, gathering numerous tourists.

The history of the holiday dates back to very ancient times, when on February 2nd, according to the Gregorian calendar, the Christians of Europe began to celebrate the Meeting of the Lord. Even then, the weather on this day was considered responsible for the nature of the approaching beginning of the long-awaited spring. There is an old Scottish saying in North America: If Candlemas Day is bright and clear, there'll be two winters in the year.

The tradition of people shifting the responsibility for long-term weather forecasts to the "brothers of our smaller" began in ancient Rome, where February 2 was annually celebrated Hedgehog Day. The weather forecast on this day was based on the behavior of an awakened hedgehog who saw or did not see his shadow. The inhabitants of Western Europe preserved this tradition in later periods, and the immigrants from their number to North America at one time, along with other traditions, took it with them. On the other side of the ocean, where hedgehogs were not kept, the role of the responsible meteorologist passed to the marmot.

There are seven of the world’s most famous weather marmots these days: Punxsutawney Phil, Wyrton Willie, Staten Island Chuck, Shubenacadie Sam, Balzac Billy, Jimmy the Groundhog and General Beauregard Lee.

The groundhog living on the turkey hill of the town of Panksatoni in the mountains of Pennsylvania (USA) is the first official groundhog meteorologist. For over a hundred years, since 1887, people have been following the predictions of the Pennsylvania Groundhog. In honor of this event, there is an annual festival, which became world famous after the release of the film “Groundhog Day”, the star of which was the now living marmot named Phil – the most famous “rodent weatherman” in America.

Canadian marmots, the most authoritative of which - living in the town of Shubenakeidi in the province of Nova Scotia marmot Sam and living in Wyrton in the province of Ontario marmot Willy - are very serious competitors of Phil: often they confidently refute the opinion of their eminent "colleague".

Wyrton Willie is the official Canadian meteorological groundhog, in honor of which the province of Ontario also hosts the traditional annual festival, which celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2006. In addition to the festival in its honor and its own permanent committee, Wyrton Willie has its own website: www.wiarton-willie.org.

In mid-summer 2006, Canada was saddened by the death of its most famous meteorologist. He enjoyed popular popularity, despite giving a forecast only once a year, and the rest of the time he mostly ate and slept. He also had a habit of walking on all fours and was covered in hair. The Toronto Star, Canada’s leading newspaper, reported with deep sorrow that the groundhog Willie has left us forever. This untimely loss was overshadowed by the fact that in the year of his death, he was very hairy with a long-term forecast. It is in this spirit that the Toronto Star, which has the largest circulation in Canada, gave its two and a half million readers the news that the successor to the case of Willie, another albino marmot, who lived on the farm in the area of Owen Sound, has already been found.

The groundhog recommended by the owners of the farm, also received the name Willy, and will now live in the Ontario town of Wyrton, in a specially built “condo” of glass and concrete next to the public library. By the way, the device of this structure cost 20 thousand dollars. On February 2, 2007, the new King of Canadian Meteorology Willy will make his first forecast.

It is impossible not to notice, according to the online publication “Canada and the USA”, that, unfortunately for Canadian meteorology, its forecasts are often inferior to marmots.