Punxsutawney Phil, the Pennsylvania groundhog we let decide our seasons for us, is officially predicting an early spring.
On Saturday morning, the famous groundhog awoke at sunrise to celebrate Groundhog Day and did not see his shadow. This, his male handlers in top hats dramatically said, signals an early start to spring and an end to winter. But don't get tooexcited.
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Would an early spring be nice? Sure! Especially considering temperatures have recently reached record-breaking lows in states across the country. But with the ever-present threat of climate change on the brain, reactions to Phil's verdict this year were pretty mixed.
SEE ALSO: Bored Midwesterners are throwing boiling water into the frigid wind during the polar vortexConsidering several states in America just experienced a brutally cold polar vortex, some gleefully embraced and early spring without question.
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But other Twitter users who've simply been burned too many times were especially reluctant to believe Punxsutawney Phil's hopeful weather reports this year.
With climate change dominating more and more headlines, many people began openly questioning this unconventional tradition, with some simply refusing to buy the rodent's hopeful weather forecast in 2019.
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Phil's been wrong before, and his 2019 prediction is also in dispute after Shubenacadie Sam — the famous groundhog in Nova Scotia — just saw his shadow and predicted we're not rid of winter quite yet.
Perhaps groundhogs aren't the most reliable weather forecasters after all... so it seems we'll just have to keep our hats and gloves handy and see what the weather brings. And maybe put some more trust in the research-supported wisdom dispensed by meteorologists and climate scientists.
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