What Does Phil’s Forecast Mean For The Northwest?

Monday is Groundhog Day, a time when all Americans focus on a small town in western Pennsylvania to see if we are going to experience six more weeks of winter, or perhaps an early spring is on the horizon.  The question a lot of people ask is does Punxsutawney Phil's forecast just apply to his neighborhood in the Keystone state, or does it apply to the entire nation? 

“I think there's a little bit of question about just exactly what that means, and since it's all in fun, it really doesn't matter," said USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey.  "We can just speculate about that.” 

Rippey added Phil has some competition when it comes to animals predicting the weather.

"Staten Island Chuck roared to fame with the interactions with the various New York City mayors a number of years ago, Rippey said.  "We've also got pretty well-known prognosticators, groundhogs in Ohio, Buckeye Chuck.  And as a West Virginia native, I'll mention that there is also French Creek Freddy. That prognosticator has been making its picks for spring weather for over 40 years now. There's actually a rattlesnake in Arizona known for making spring predictions.”

Here is the Northwest, we have a few animals that try to predict the weather, including: 

• Stumptown Fil, a beaver at the Oregon Zoo, who debuted in 2020
• Fufu a hedgehog also at the Oregon Zoo 

And then a few other fun ones from across the country: 

• Florida has a burrowing owl
• North Carolina has a squirrel
• Texas has Bee Cave Bob the Armadillo 

If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@townsquaremedia.com