Groundhog Day brings tiding of more US winter this year (Roundup)

Feb 2, 2010, 17:28 GMT

Washington - The most famous resident of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania - Phil the groundhog - disappointed thousands early Tuesday when he woke up and saw his shadow, forecasting six more weeks of winter, according to the legend of Groundhog Day.

The forecast, if accurate, will extend what has already become one of the coldest and snowiest winters in the US in years.

According to Groundhog Day standard procedure, if Phil sees his shadow, he becomes scared and ducks back inside his hole, indicating a prolonged winter.

Phil was awakened by 15 tuxedo-clad members of the Inner Circle of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club at about 7:30 am for the ritual at Gobblers Knob, in the mountainous western part of the state.

The sun shone, and the rodent Phil did indeed rush back into his nest.

'The sky shines bright above me, my shadow I see beside me,' Mike Johnston, a club member, read during the festive proclamation of prolonged winter.

Phil's hole was as usual surrounded by a crush of television reporters, as immortalized in the scenes in the cult film Groundhog Day with Bill Murray.

About 17,000 people turned out for the festivities, which started at 7:22 am local time (1222 GMT). It was the third time in a row that Phil forecast an extended winter.