Community Corner

Potomac Phil To Make An Appearance in Dupont Circle

It's the second year Potomac Phil will make an appearance in Washington.

Potomac Phil, the taxidermied Washington relative of the "world's most famous weatherman," Punxsutawney Phil, will make an appearance on Groundhog Day on Saturday to predict spring's arrival.

Fittingly, Potomac Phil also has a penchant for political predictions.

This year's event will begin at 7:30 a.m. Saturday at the fountain in Dupont Circle. Phil will make his appearance at 8 a.m.

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According to the event website:

"Potomac Phil, the National Groundhog, will make an appearance and offer weather and political predictions. Phil will let us know whether to expect six more weeks of winter or an early spring. Live accordion music, polka dancers, local celebrities, VIPs and school children will participate."

Find out what's happening in Falls Churchwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Last year was Phil's first Groundhog Day appearance in the district; he saw his shadow and predicted six more weeks of winter.

Last year's winter was already a mild one, with December 2011, January and February 2012 averaging about five degrees higher than the normal Washington average temperature for those months, according to National Weather Service data. So when March came in at 10 degrees above average, it was not entirely unexpected. This may call into question whether Potomac Phil has the same weather-predicting chops as his Pennsylvania cousin.

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