Punxsutawney Phil usually makes his weather call early in the morning. It typically happens after 7 a.m. Tradition says Phil seeing his shadow is a sign that the next six weeks will bring wintry weather. If Phil doesn't see his shadow, it means an early spring.

The groundhogs — along with a tortoise, whose emergence from his winter hibernation foretells the coming of spring, and a prairie dog statue, whose shadow at sunrise predicts how long it will be until spring arrives — were ranked based on their accuracy over the past 20 years, using the March temperature averages for the U.S., NOAA said.