How Groundhog Day is connected to astronomy

How did we come to celebrate our favorite weather-predicting rodent on Groundhog Day? It actually has a tie-in with astronomy and the time of year.

Transcript

00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:03 It's the famous day when many look to a groundhog

00:09 to predict the weather.

00:11 But how did this iconic rodent get

00:13 to be associated with the weather?

00:16 It actually has a tie in with astronomy, believe it or not.

00:19 Groundhog's Day is connected to the sun's movement

00:21 across the sky.

00:23 It falls in one of the four cross-quarter days

00:26 between seasons.

00:28 In this case, the winter solstice

00:30 and the vernal equinox.

00:32 Other near midway points throughout the year

00:34 include May Day and Halloween.

00:37 According to tradition, if a groundhog

00:40 pops out of his burrow at winter's midway point

00:42 and sees his shadow, then I'm afraid

00:45 we'd have to endure six more weeks of winter.

00:47 If he doesn't, then that means spring might just

00:50 be around the corner.

00:52 Reporting for AccuWeather, I'm meteorologist Jeff Cornish.

00:55 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:58 (upbeat music)