Weatherbug meteorologist Ryan Towell is blogging his journey to Punxsutawney, Penn in pursuit of Bill Murray's furry friend. Here is today's entry:

The History of Groundhog Day
An important part of preparing for our trek to Punxsutawney involved doing some background research on the whole Groundhog Day tradition. Groundhog Day can trace its roots back to the early European tradition of Candlemas Day. This Christian tradition involved clergy blessing candles and distributing them. Even back then, the weather on this day was very important. Sunshine on this day was said to be an omen of a prolonged winter.

German settlers brought a form of this tradition to Pennsylvania. They concluded that if the groundhog, an intelligent animal in their eyes, saw his shadow on this particular day, it meant six more weeks of winter. If not, spring was just around the corner.

The first trip up to Gobbler's Knob was back in 1887. It is sort of exciting to know that we are going to be part of such a long standing tradition. - Ryan