In Punxsutawney (Pennsylvania), 1886 marked the first time Groundhog Day appeared in the newspaper, according to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. The following year brought the first official trek to Gobbler's Knob. Each year since then has seen a steady increase in participation of the celebration by people all over the world.

Groundhog Day's origins lie in an ancient European celebration of Candlemas, a point midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox – the exact midpoint of astronomical winter.

Weather folklore can be predictable. Meteorologists may shake their heads, but many people look outside and remember sayings their grandparents taught them about how to use nature to predict the weather.

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Above is our resident groundhog "Missouri Mabel."
Today will be sunny skies; so, odds are high that there will be a shadow.
But the short-term weather has already been predicted (by meteorologists) to gradually be warmer for the next 10 days than it has been recently. We'll be coming off an arctic blast.