On February 2nd every year for over 20 years, hundreds gather around for the annual celebration of Groundhog Day when famous weather predicting groundhog Punxsutawney Phil gets pulled from hibernation just to check out his shadow, which is an indication of the upcoming weather.

Traditionally, if Punxsutawney Phil emerges from his den and sees his shadow (and return to sleep) it means there will be six more weeks of winter weather. If the groundhog doesn't see his shadow, spring is just around the corner and Phil sensed it coming and won’t go back to hibernating.

An estimated 15,000 visitors gathered at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa., a wooded area outside town to watch Phil as he emerged from his slumber to predict an early spring or extended winter. Legend has it that the 10-pund animal has accurately predicted the seasonal shifts 21 times over the last 28 years.

Up to 40,000 have attended the festivities in years past, Cooper said, adding, “It’s a pretty monumental thing,” said Bill Cooper, president of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club’s Inner Circle.

While those familiar with the cuddly creatures say there isn’t much scientific evidence to support the predictions, according to the official holiday website, www.groundhog.org, meteorologists are correct only 70 percent of the time, while Phil, the only true weather forecasting groundhog in the world, is always right.

The tradition on Groundhog Day can be tracked back all the way to German settlers in the New World celebrating Candlemas Day, when the Germans concluded that if the sun made an appearance on Candlemas Day, an animal, the hedgehog, would cast a shadow, thus predicting six more weeks of bad weather, which they interpolated as the length of the “Second Winter.”