Punxsutawney Phil made his Groundhog Day prediction this morning. He didn't see his shadow in the wintry mess in western Pennsylvania, which means that spring is close.

The first day of spring is nonetheless six weeks away: March 20.

Phil's handlers, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club's Inner Circle, concoct the forecasts. Several thousand revelers gathered in the pre-dawn hours on a small hill called Gobbler's Knob to hear the prediction.

Before today, Phil had seen his shadow 98 times and hadn't seen it 15 times since 1887. There are no records for the remaining years, though the group has never failed to issue a forecast.

Groundhog Day was designed as a day of celebration by Pennsylvania’s early settlers. It’s very similar to Candlemas Day, which also happens to fall on Feb. 2. It was concluded that if the sun made an appearance on Candlemas Day, or if an animal cast a shadow on that day, there would be six more weeks of bad weather.

The groundhog, which lives indoors most of the year, is online: On Facebook, you can

. On Twitter, you can follow his adventures

On Foursquare, you can unlock the official PA Groundhog Day badge. You can earn the badge by following visitPA on

and checking in to “shout” the word “groundhog” today.