6 More Weeks of Winter? Here’s What Punxsutawney Phil Predicted for 2026

It looks like we won't be able to pack away our parkas and boots just yet. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow Monday morning, which means six more weeks of winter.

According to centuries-old folklore, if the world’s most famous weather-predicting groundhog sees his shadow, six more weeks of winter are on the way. If he doesn’t, an early spring arrives. In actuality, astronomical winter will end on the spring equinox on March 20 (which is roughly six weeks away).

Also, keep in mind that Phil isn't the best forecaster. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) analyzed the data and discovered that Phil’s recent predictions have only been right about 35 percent of the time over the past two decades.

The meteorologists at the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center are currently predicting colder than normal conditions in much of the East for February and warmer than normal conditions—an “early spring”—in the West and Southern Plains.

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Phil, who lives in Punxsutawney, Pa., has been forecasting the weather since the late 1800s. Every year on February 2—Groundhog Day—the famous rodent is called upon to offer his long-range weather forecast. He draws thousands of visitors to Gobbler’s Knob, and even more tune into the livestream. The tradition has spread across the U.S., with other animals, including a duck, an alligator, and even a fish, predicting the weather.

The groundhog's prediction comes on the heels of back-to-back winter storms, including Winter Storm Gianna that dropped more than a foot of snow in the South over the weekend.