The Groundhog Weather Forecast❄️
LISTEN HERE
Season 2: Episode 65 Description
In today's episode: 👀 We're peeking inside the burrow to get the facts on Groundhog Day. 🌤️ Friends of the Ten, Jacob and Olivia Rozencwaig from Curious Kid Podcast join us to explain the funny tradition of a groundhog forecasting if Spring is on its way. 🐘 Find out what other animals are known for predicting the weather. ✔️ Fun Fact check: what other names are there for groundhogs? 🗞️ In the news: Supreme Court changes and a sad goodbye to a beloved gorilla. And, test your groundhog knowledge in today's Trivia on the Ten. ✅
Sources
8 animals that give the weather report | Explore | Awesome Activities & Fun Facts | CBC Kids
Animals That Can (Supposedly) Predict the Weather | Reader's Digest (rd.com)
12ft | 10 facts about groundhogs
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer to retire | Fox News
Ozzie, World's Oldest Male Gorilla, Dies At Atlanta Zoo At Age Of 61 | HuffPost Impact
Unknown space object beams out radio signals every 18 minutes - CNN
Links
📧 Do you have something to tell us? Email us at: hello@thetennews.com
📝 Sign up for The Ten News-letter!
📸 Join us on Instagram
TRANSCRIPT:
Bethany Van Delft 0:01
Are you already tired of the cold and snow? I have an idea. Let's ask a rodent when winter will end. Today we'll peek inside the burrow and get the facts on Groundhog Day.
Sound Bit 0:15
Do you ever have deja vu, Mrs. Lancaster? I don't think so. But I could check with the kitchen. I'm Bethany Van Delft. It's Tuesday, February 1st, and this is the Ten News.
Various Voices 0:24
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Bethany Van Delft 0:32
How on earth does a groundhog tell us spring is on its way? Let's go to friends, Jacob and Olivia Rozencwaig from the Curious Kid Podcast for an explanation.
Jacob Rozencwaig 0:43
Ahhh. Groundhog Day tradition like no other. For over 130 years people have gathered in the small Pennsylvania town of Punxsutawney on February 2. To see if a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil sees its shadow. The way it works is simple. If the groundhog sees its shadow because it's a nice and clear day, that means that it will go back to its den. And we can expect six more weeks of winter. But if the groundhog doesn't see its shadow, because it's too cloudy spring will arrive early, true excitement of a large squirrel predicting the weather. In recent years. 10s of 1000s of people have traveled to Punxsutawney on February 2, just to see what Punxsutawney Phil will do. So that must mean that the groundhog is great at forecasting the weather.
Ryan Willard 1:32
Not so fast that Punxsutawney Phil has actually done a pretty bad job predicting the weather you would be much better off just flipping a coin to see if winter will last another six weeks.
Jacob Rozencwaig 1:45
And that's because you can expect to be right about 50% of the time by flipping a coin. According to records kept by the grantor club that organizes the Groundhog Day event. Punxsutawney Phil correctly predicts the weather only 39% of the time.
Ryan Willard 2:02
If the groundhog can't really predict the weather, why do we keep observing this strange tradition?
Jacob Rozencwaig 2:08
Probably because it's fun, and the groundhog is super cute. But we definitely don't observe it because Punxsutawney Phil is actually good at predicting the weather. When it comes to animals that can actually be trusted to predict the weather. There are much better animals to turn to than the Groundhog
Ryan Willard 2:25
If frogs croak really loudly, it's a good sign that it's about to rain.
Jacob Rozencwaig 2:33
If you see lots of cows laying down, chances are that rain is coming. We believe cows do this to save themselves a nice dry spot to wait out the rain.
Ryan Willard 2:42
You can also look to the sky and see what the birds are up to. If you want to get a sense for the upcoming weather.
Jacob Rozencwaig 2:50
That's because birds can usually be seen flying lower in the sky if they sense that bad weather is on the way. They do this because the low pressure that arrives before a storm can make it uncomfortable for birds to fly at high altitudes.
Ryan Willard 3:04
It's so cool that there are animals that can actually sense future weather.
Jacob Rozencwaig 3:08
It's really neat and we're sorry to be exposed to Punxsutawney Phil for being a poor meteorologist Groundhog Day is a fun holiday with lots of long-standing traditions. And we should enjoy it. Whether or not Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow.
Ryan Willard 3:24
Just remember not to put your winter clothes away. If Punxsutawney Phil prediction early spring. Happy Groundhog Day everybody.
Bethany Van Delft 3:33
Thanks for that update. I will be sure to pack an umbrella if I hear the frogs croaking loudly. To learn more cool things from Jacob and Olivia. Check them out on the curious kid podcast. You heard from Jacob and Olivia about some animal meteorologists and here are a few other beasties known for predicting the weather. First up elephants. These highly intelligent mammals have incredible hearing, scientists believe elephants can hear the vibrations of earthquakes hundreds of miles away, and that gives them time to get to higher safer ground. What a useful skill. Have you ever seen ants working frantically on their anthills? It could mean a storm is coming. Ants have been observed strengthening their homes before storms. It seems like farmyard animals are pretty good weather predictors. Sheep gather together before it rains leading to the saying when sheep gathered together in a huddle. Tomorrow we'll have a puddle. That is so key. And butterflies aren't just beautiful pollinators. They also tell us when a storm is headed our way. Butterflies and bees will hide in a rainstorm. So if you look outside, and all the bees and butterflies are missing, it might mean rain. Or they could just be playing a game of hiding and seek out come out wherever you are. And there are many more creatures known for predicting whether it is caterpillars, crickets, fish, ladybugs or spiders. It almost seems like we humans are the last to know. Oh, no, I know I should have listened to that frog. Do you know any cool animal facts? Well, give us a call and share them at 877-TEN-NEWS and leave us a voicemail and we might have you on the show. That's 877 T E N N E W S. So groundhogs are pretty famous for predicting the end of winter. But did you know that not everyone calls them groundhogs some people call them whistle pigs because they make a high pitch sound? Others call them woodchucks or that comes from indigenous names for the shy critters. Wait a minute, that means it was a groundhog that inspired the famous rhyme how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? I still don't know the answer to that. You will need both. And nowhere to give us the news rundown is our head writer Ryan Willard.
Ryan Willard 6:32
Thank you, Bethany. The big news here in the US, one of the Supreme Court justices will be stepping down at the end of the term. Justice Stephen Breyer will retire this year after holding the job for 28 years. This gives President Joe Biden the chance to fulfill his campaign promise to nominate the first black woman to the United States Supreme Court. Nice. In animal news, Ozzie the world's oldest male gorilla has passed away at the age of 61. The cause of his death is not yet known. Ozzy lived at Zoo Atlanta in Georgia and made zoological history in 2009 when he became the first gorilla in the world to participate in a voluntary blood pressure reading, you will be missed, Ozzie. And in odd Space News, astronomers in Western Australia have discovered something in space, unlike anything they've ever seen. While mapping radio waves across the universe. They found a celestial object releasing giant bursts of energy, beaming out radiation three times per hour. Astronomers suspected could be remnants of a collapsed star or a dead white dwarf star with a strong magnetic field, but they're still unsure exactly what it is my best guess is it's a 13-year-old alien who's having his bar mitzvah in space, but I am certainly not an astronomer. So back to you Bethany.
Bethany Van Delft 7:54
Coming up next.
Various Voices 7:55
What, what, what's the big idea?
Bethany Van Delft 7:58
Trivia on the Ten. Maybe you already knew that. Groundhogs are giant rodents. But do you know what animal is the closest relative to a groundhog? Is it a) squirrels, b) rats, or c) chinchillas? Did you guess it? The answer is A. The curator of mammals at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History says groundhogs are giant squirrels. But unlike their squirrel cousins, groundhogs are solitary creatures. They like to spend their time alone in their burrows, and they hibernate for the winter. Who have lucky I'd love to sleep through a pandemic winter. Time's up, but before we go, here's a quick note for the grownups. Thanks for listening to the Ten News. Look out for our new episodes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and extras on Saturdays. The Ten News is a co-production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts and it's distributed by iHeartRadio. The Ten News creative team is looking for their shadows and includes Tracey Crooks, Pete Musto, Adam Bernard, Ryan Willard, Tessa Flannery, and Nathalie Alonso. Jacob and Olivia Rozencwaig contributed to this episode. Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle and executive producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. I'm Bethany Van Delft and thanks for listening to the Ten News. Does anybody else wish there was a weather cricket on the evening news? Just me?
