Groundhog’s Shadow to Flit Across Internet

Punxsutawney Phil is about to surf the Net.

The chubby woodchuck will be pulled out to make his annual shadow check on Monday, rain, snow or shine. But thanks to a World Wide Web hookup, those who want to avoid cold feet can watch the prediction almost live on their computer screens.

Gov. Tom Ridge announced the broadcast last week as part of a 21-day campaign to market Pennsylvania as a high-tech business hub.

“Phil is important to us in terms of visibility nationwide,” said Barbara Chaffee, director of the state travel and tourism office. “We think Punxsutawney will help us bring tourism and travelers.”

The Groundhog Day tradition is based on a German superstition that an animal casting its shadow on Feb. 2, the Christian holiday of Candlemas, means bad weather to come. German farmers began the festival 111 years ago in Punxsutawney, about 80 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

Phil is pulled from his custom-made burrow each year at Gobbler’s Knob by Punxsutawney Groundhog Club members, who announce his prediction. The rest of the year, Phil lives in a heated hutch at the town library.

Pennsylvania’s travel and tourism World Wide Web site will give directions for software downloads that can present Phil. A free software program enables a computer to project moving pictures and sounds.

Three digital cameras will send Phil’s movements over the Internet by satellite early Monday. The 40-minute broadcast will end with Phil’s prediction about 7:25 a.m. EST.

Too early? The broadcast will be repeated on the site throughout the day.

Viewers will see pictures, though some will move more slowly depending on modem speed and monitor quality, said Eric Failing, the tourism office’s director of technology. The pictures will reach viewers after a 10-second delay.

The Web site is:

https://www.state.pa.us/visit/groundhogday