It was Groundhog Day on Sunday. Punxsutawney Phil of Gobbler’s Knob saw his shadow, and according to tradition, this means there will be six more weeks of winter.
However, Punxsutawney Phil's prognosis of an extended winter was not universally accepted by all the groundhogs of North America. This is why you need the Groundhog Map.
If you don’t trust Punxsutawney Phil’s forecast, the Groundhog Map offers 84 other groundhog predictions to consider. The map compiles the annual weather predictions of groundhogs across the United States and Canada, harnessing the collective wisdom of the burrow to provide a crowd-sourced critter climatological forecast.
This year, 55% of all groundhog predictions actually forecast an early spring. So, at least for this year, Punxsutawney Phil is in the minority with his prediction of a long winter.
The Groundhog Map also features an API. The Groundhog Day API allows users to access data on past predictions from individual groundhogs, as well as aggregate yearly data comparing the number of early spring forecasts to predictions of longer winters.
Of course, whether you trust a single seasoned marmot or the wisdom of the burrow, one thing is certain - spring is coming. Until then, you can either embrace Phil’s prophecy and dust off your snow shovel, or side with the majority of groundhogs and start shopping for sunglasses. Either way, at least now you have data-driven rodent meteorology to back up your decision.
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