The History of Lander Lil, Wyoming’s Punxsutawney Phil

You've heard of the groundhog Punxsutawney Phil. Each year, a festival is held where Phil "predicts" whether we are going to have more winter or not. This year, Phil said we would have 6 more weeks of winter.

But Wyoming's Lander Lil said it would be an early spring. While the rest of the northern hemisphere, worldwide, has been brutalized by this winter, a high-pressure system has kept states like Wyoming mild mostly and winter-free.

Lander Lil was created in 1984 during the town's centennial to provide a Wyoming-specific, Rockies-based weather prediction.

Local businesswoman Mary Ann Atwood and others felt too much attention was on Pennsylvania's groundhog, so they created their own "weather sentinel" based on a prairie dog colony in front of the local post office.

Sculptor Bev Paddleford of Eagle Bronze Foundry in Lander forged the three-foot-tall bronze statue.

While the original, informal celebration has not been held for many years, the statue remains, and predictions continue, with NOAA recently ranking her among the top, most accurate weather-predicting rodents in the nation.

Lander Lil, a bronze statue of a prairie dog, has been predicting the future of winter weather for Wyoming since 1984. There really was a real Lander Lil before the installation of a larger-than-life bronze statue, which stands lookout from her perch on the grounds of the local Post Office.

Nationwide, there are 89 weather-forecasting prognosticators in total. This includes:
Groundhogs who predict (78)
Canadian groundhogs (15)
American groundhogs (74)
‘Alternative’ groundhogs (52)

You might want to read the list of names for these creatures. It is long and funny.

Try this Groundhog Day Map to see where they all are.

Punxsutawney Phil is the most famous prognosticating groundhog, largely due to starring in the 1993 Hollywood film “Groundhog Day,” with Bill Murray in a supporting role. However, there are many Groundhog Day ceremonies across North America, not always strictly including a live groundhog, but all of which follow the central premise of an animal predicting the upcoming weather.