Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow Monday and has predicted six more weeks of winter for the state of Pennsylvania.

Seeing as we all live in Erie, we probably would have gotten six more weeks of winter even if the groundhog saw a unicorn in place of its shadow.

Why not? An early spring in the Snowbelt is just as rare, if not more.

Many of us may have believed in the superstitions of Groundhog Day when we were young, like we believed in Santa Claus and world peace.

Since then most of us have probably come to realize that it’s difficult enough to predict what the weather will be like daily, let alone for the next six weeks.

One of the most common phrases heard around here deals with the climate. “Don’t like the weather in Erie? Wait five minutes. It will change.”

Granted in the winter, that usually means it will go from being horrible snowy to horribly windy, but there’s still some change.

Even when you mention the city of Erie to people in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia or New York City,  you normally hear, “Oh, it’s cold there, you guys get a lot of snow!”

Yes, yes we do.

Most of the time before you even check the weather forecast, you can assume that it’ll either be cold, snowy or both.

Maybe this practice is relevant to the rest of the state, or even the rest of the country where “winter” means lows of 50 degrees, but in this city, it’s safe to say that we can predict winter till about April every year.

But if Phil is right and we only have six weeks left, many locals will be truly grateful.