Why do we have Groundhogs Day? What is the entire point of it? How can the Groundhog tell if we have more Winter or Spring? Everyone has questions about this holiday and most don’t understand it at all. I’m going to talk about the history and what is the whole point of Groundhogs Day and why we have it.

Groundhogs Day started in the 1700s, but people actually started to celebrate it in 1887. When German Settlers settled in they had brought a tradition with them that is known as Candlemas Day (to bless candles and distribute them to the people in the dark of Winter). According to StormFax,“It came in the midpoint between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox”(StormFax). This means if the sun came out on February 2nd, that meant there is six more weeks of wintry weather.

Now, you know what it came from and what it is, but what is the whole point of it? Well, the groundhog will peep out of his hole in the winter quarters. If he sees his shadow he pops back into the hole and sleeps for a whole six weeks of nap. If he doesn’t see his shadow or if the day is cloudy  he remains out and this means the weather is moderate. This is how groundhog’s day started.

You still might be confused by this point, but now I’m going to tell you why we have this day and celebrate it! This tradition for weather forecasting.  “Imbolc was a festival for the coming spring, and often featured primitive meteorology in an attempt to predict or control how quickly spring arrived”(Mother Nature Network). Groundhog day helped many people and animals so much!

Overall, Groundhogs day is a very important holiday for a lot of people. It helps determine if Spring is on it’s way, or if we have six more weeks of winter. I think this is a great important holiday and it is interesting.