Groundhog Day 2017: Meteorologists, Phil predict 6 more weeks of winter lie ahead

By Jillian MacMath, AccuWeather staff writer

February 2,2017, 8:36:51AM,EST

 

Just after sunrise on Thursday, Punxsutawney Phil declared six more weeks of winter for the United States - a prognostication AccuWeather meteorologists largely agree with.

Though many Americans are longing for warmer weather, most of the country will be faced with weeks of wintry conditions.

In this Feb. 2,2016, photo, Groundhog Club handler John Griffiths holds Punxsutawney Phil, the weather predicting groundhog, during the annual celebration of Groundhog Day on Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

Across the Northeast, stormy weather is set to continue.
“There will be more rain than snow in the big East Coast cities,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Paul Pastelok said. However, the interior Northeast will have a higher chance for snow as temperatures remain below normal.
"As far as a significant warmup goes across the Northeast, I think you have to hold off til late April or early May," he said.
Cold air and snow will also persist in the Midwest, northern Plains and Northwest, enveloping nearly the entire northern tier of the country.
Northern and central California will see additional winter storms and rainfall. The abundant precipitation will continue to build a buffer for reservoirs in the coming months, Pastelok said.
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Meanwhile, wet weather will grip cities from the mid-Atlantic down to the Florida Panhandle.
The rest of Florida will mark the exception for the Southeast, as dry weather prevails between now and springtime.
The spring season will officially begin on March 20.
For more details on what to expect, check back for AccuWeather’s full 2017 spring forecast on Feb. 8.