His forecast drew cheers from the crowds. The last time he predicted an early spring was in 1999.

National Weather Service meteorologist Dennis Feltgen suggested taking the prediction with a pinch of salt.

"Right now the Climate Prediction Center says February will average out below normal. Looking at the computer models here, the next seven days are going to be really cold," he said.

"If we have an early spring, it would certainly be welcomed," he added.

Punxsutawney has been holding the ceremony since the early 1800s. It is said to be based on a German tradition and holds that if Phil sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter, but if not there will be an early spring.

The ceremony was featured in the 1993 Bill Murray comedy "Groundhog Day," in which Murray's character, television weatherman Phil Connors, finds himself living the same day over and over again.

The original tradition used a hedgehog or badger, but Punxsutawney instead adopted the groundhog, a type of marmot also known as the woodchuck.

According to tradition, Phil speaks to the town's Groundhog Club president in "Groundhogese," which the club says is understood only by the president of the Inner Circle -- a group of dignitaries who dress in top hats for the event.

Punxsutawney Phil is held by town authorities to be the original seer and over 120 years old, even though groundhogs usually only live for around two or three years. He allegedly owes his longevity to a secret elixir.

Phil in fact spends most of the year living in the town's library and is moved to the heated burrow on Gobbler's Knob in time to be pulled out at 7:25 am every February 2.

Although the ceremony is now held in other parts of the United States and Canada, town dignitaries insist that only Phil is the genuine article.

"Punxsutawney Phil is the only true weather-forecasting groundhog," the town's Groundhog Club says. "The others are just impostors."

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