The furry forecaster has spoken....



Punxatawny Phil says we'll have an early spring. Which will be welcome, considering DC's highs next week will be about 20.

Being that I've done this story far too many times in the past 20-odd years, I can tell you (almost without checking my notes) that Punxsutawney Phil had seen his shadow every year since 1999. He and his predecessors have seen their shadows 96 times, or about 80 percent of the time, since 1887, according to the Groundhog Club. Only 15 times has the groundhog not seen his shadow...which may lead you to ask what happened the other 9 times. No one knows, those results weren't recorded. And they must have been pretty early, as we can track down just about anything on the interweb these days.

Of course those other forecasters aren't seeing things phil's way. Yup, the noaa boys (and girls) say el nino is dissipating, clearing the way for colder weather the rest of the winter.