Breaking Groundhog News - Phil emerges from his den and...

[Dennis Donovan]

...makes a statement:

"You know how fucking stupid y'all are? Basing meteorologic predictions on one weather moment and a groundhog? For Christs' sake people. Go the fuck home, crack a science book and leave me out of this nonsense. Fucking idiots..."

Oh, and...

Link to tweet

[apcalc]

1. Let me guess...6 more weeks of winter ( what the calendar says).

Or ...global warming- an early spring

I prefer 10 more months of winter... followed by winter.
😉

[Dennis Donovan]

2. Each winter seems milder than the last in the Northeast

I've noticed this trend for several years now.

[apcalc]

4. Me too.

[NutmegYankee]

9. It's not just you.

Southern New England is bummed again.

[CTyankee]

11. OTOH, us older nutmeggers can get around without worrying so much about snow and ice.

I can go out and get food and have my nails done...

[smirkymonkey]

14. This winter has been especially mild.

No serious snowfall here in Boston yet. And February is not looking very menacing either. I'm not complaining though. I like a big snowstorm every now and then, but it's a lot easier to get around this way.

[hlthe2b]

5. Me too (re: prefer more winter). One can always put on more clothing to feel comfortable...

At some point, there will not be enough A/C capacity and other measures to make the worst summer heat bearable.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. As the snow came down while he emerged

he forecast the effects of climate change on this season.

(but he can keep that snow over on that side of my state anyway! )

[hlthe2b]

3. Yeah, but at least it makes people think twice before killing groundhogs...

just so they can have a "pristine" water-hogging lawn.

Out here it is prairie dogs and Trump et al have decided it is just fine to bring back cyanide and other poison gas as a way to "control" them. Apparently they don't care one twit about the two children (Texas, as I recall) who died from coming into contact with the poison as they walked across a vacant lot.


Sorry to take this off-topic, but it is a big issue for me. Anything that makes people think twice about such horrific destruction of wildlife, however silly, nostalgic, and unscientific, is just fine with me.

[GoCubsGo]

7. Did he "emerge", or was he yanked out of his burrow?

Like he is every year. "Fucking idiots", indeed.

[NutmegYankee]

8. There is just a touch of science to this old myth.

In theory, if the sun is shining brightly then the colder dryer air mass from the North is in control. If the day is cloudy, it's more likely that the warmer moister Air from the Gulf is starting to make it's way north, which is why Spring is so rain filled.

The huge caveat - it can rain any day, or be sunny in the spring, so it's a crap shoot overall.

[Wounded Bear]

16. The other caveat...

how long does that effect last? Is it six weeks?

[onethatcares]

10. drumph immediately

appoints him to head NOAA.......

[jimfields33]

12. I think it's a cute annual celebration

Do we need to ruin everything? I mean the town gets visitors once a year and this probably keeps the town economically good for the year.

[apcalc]

13. Organizers say it might just a way to break the winter monotony.

[Ms. Toad]

15. Too bad you can literally see his shadow

As they are making the announcement that he had no shadow.

[Wounded Bear]

17. Klieg lights from the cameras don't count...

[Ms. Toad]

18. There's shadows in the crowd, as well.

The prediction has nothing to do with whether he sees his shadow. I don't know when they switched - but at least as of two years ago, he picks the scroll to read.

https://theweek.com/speedreads/752721/punxsutawney-phil-groundhog-predicts-six-more-weeks-winter