Slideshow: Punxsutawney Phil, the weather-prognosticating groundhog

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Groundhog Club 'Inner Circle' member, Ron Ploucha holds Punsxutawney Phil during the Groundhog Day celebration at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Penn.

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Children take a look at Potomac Phil in Washington, DC, on Thursday, Feb. 2.

Karen Bleier / AFP - Getty Images

Cookies in the shape of a groundhog are served before Potomac Phil.

Punxsutawney Phil better watch his back when he’s not looking for his shadow. He’s got a competitor pining for the spotlight, but there's a twist.

When daylight broke over central Pennsylvania this morning, a doppelganger 250 miles away was imitating the longstanding tradition.

A small crowd gathered in Washington DC today to see what “Potomac Phil” would do. To set the mood, polka music was played, AP said.

Though if the real and renowned rodent is concerned about being overthrown by his beltway imitator, he should rest a bit easier knowing that Potomac Phil is dead.

Potomac Groundhog club founder Aaron DeNu said the stuffed version of Phil saw his shadow during the first annual Dupont Circle Groundhog Day celebration a ceremony, meaning DC residents should brace for six more weeks of winter.

The club is hoping to begin its own Ground Hog Day tradition... but are looking to find a live groundhog for the next celebration.

Karen Bleier / AFP - Getty Images

Potomac Phil, a taxidermied groundhog brought out to determine whether or not he sees his shadow during the 1st annual Dupont Circle Ground Hog Day celebration in Washington, DC, on Thursday, Feb. 2.

Gene J. Puskar / AP

Groundhog Club handler John Griffiths holds Punxsutawney Phil. This was the 126th celebration of Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, Pa.

Yes!

Gene J. Puskar / AP

A huge crowd gathered at Gobbler's Knob, the tiny hill from which Phil makes his prediction on Feb. 2.

The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club made their decree Thursday morning in central Pennsylvania: Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, and there'll be six more weeks of winter. The announcement was met with boos from the enormous crowd gathered in Punxsutawney.  

Folks in the East and elsewhere gave a collective shrug, as temperatures have been unseasonably warm. "But it's the winter we've been having, so that's like spring anyway," said Matt Lauer on TODAY after the news broke. 

Jason Cohn / Reuters

Punxsutawney Phil Thursday morning. Sorry everyone; spring fever will have to wait.

"The daffodils are already in bloom in NW Mississippi," wrote Jackie Barnes Garrett on TODAY's Facebook page, where hundreds of people are weighing in. "We are already fighting mosquitoes and flies."

"Yesterday it was almost 60 degrees in Iowa," wrote Facebook commenter Letha Ann Alexander. But Sara LaPoint, from Colorado, has seen enough of this season. "I am SO done with snow and winter!" she wrote.

The Associated Press reports that the groundhog has seen his shadow 99 times since 1886; he's not seen it only 16 times, according to the Groundhog Club's Inner Circle (there are no records for the remaining years, according to the AP). Though Phil gets all the credit, it's 15 members of the Inner Circle who decide the news in advance.

Jason Cohn / Reuters

WTAJ meteorologist Joe Murgo tries to interview Phil after his big prediction. No word on how that went.

And not everyone believes the hype. "Punxsutawney Phil is a punk when it comes to weather forecasting," wrote veteran meteorologist Tim McGill on the Chicago Weather Center blog. McGill, who has covered 26 years of Phil predictions, said most weather experts "dread Groundhog Day." (For good measure, he ended his post with a recipe for woodchuck stew).

But Mike Johnston, vice president of the Inner Circle, told the AP that Phil has "never been wrong." The reason is simple, he said: Phil can't err, because he never applies his prognostication to a specific place. "I guarantee you someone's going to have six more weeks of winter," he said. 

Groundhog Day and more animal news:
Punxsutawney Phil stuffs the competition
The origins of 13 enduring superstitions 
Punxsutawney Phil and 7 other animals who predict the future
Will and Kate's new puppy breed revealed!
Elephant fitted with giant contact to heal injured eye

Amy DiLuna, TODAY.com senior editor, doesn't know from weather, but thinks that furry little meatball Phil is adorable.

Jeff Swensen / Getty Images

Groundhog handler Ben Hughes watches Punxsutawney Phil after he did not see his shadow predicting an early spring during the 125th annual Groundhog Day festivities on Feb. 2 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

Jeff Swensen / Getty Images

A smaller than usual crowd this year of less than 15,000 people spent a night of revelry awaiting the sunrise and the groundhog's exit from his winter den.

Jason Cohn / Reuters

Official Groundhog Handler John Griffith, left, holds famed weather prognosticating groundhog Punxsutawney Phil as he makes his annual prediction to Groundhog Club President Bill Deeley, right, on Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

Jeff Swensen / Getty Images

Fireworks light up the sky above the crowd.

Including today's forecast, Phil has seen his shadow 98 times and hasn't seen it just 16 times since 1887.

TODAYshow.com has the full story.