If a groundhog lived in Kingfisher County, would it have seen its shadow on Groundhog Day?

The tradition is that if the groundhog sees its shadow on Feb. 2, that signals six more weeks of winter.

The original legend dates back to Candlemas Day in Europe with the Christian “festival of lights” that falls on Feb. 2, midway between the start and end of winter.

Punxsutawney, Penn., sort of claimed that date as its own and co-opted the right to predict the weather for the next six weeks.

Tradition says Punxsutawney Phil seeing his shadow is a sign that the next six weeks will bring wintry weather.

After spending last year in quarantine due to the pandemic, Punxsutawney Phil was back at it Wednesday.

The great weather-pre dicting groundhog forecast six more weeks of winter after seeing his shadow during the annual spectacle at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney.

A check of several Times and Free Press staffers – not wee furry beasties – on Thursday revealed not a one of them noticed a shadow on Wednesday as cloud covered the area, along with snow, from morning to night.

Some claimed not to have peeked out-of-doors for the entire day, opting instead to stay huddled up inside by a fireplace while covered up with blankets to fight the wintry blast.

The first day of spring is scheduled to arrive on Saturday, March 20.

Local Weather Observer Steve Loftis confidently predicts spring will arrive that day even if there’s a foot of snow on the ground.