Tagged: National Weather Service (NWS)

Here's the gist of what the most famous groundhog in the world told us on Feb. 2:

Punxsutawney Phil, the King of the Groundhogs,

Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of Prognosticators,

Weather Prophet without Peer,

was awakened from his burrow at 7:28 am

with a tap of the President's cane....

And so ye faithful,

there is no shadow to see

An early Spring for you and me.

Don't tell Chicago, Buffalo or Minneapolis — which will see high temperatures just in the 20s, today — but at 7:02 a.m. ET., the Earth's axis was neither tilted from nor toward the sun, marking the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere.

So: Happy spring equinox!

The National Weather Service provides this explanation for what's happening with the Earth's orbit:

The winter storm that has dumped several inches of snow from the Dakotas to Maryland is expected to linger over the mid-Atlantic on Wednesday, bringing another 5 to 9 inches to many areas in the east.

Federal government offices in the nation's capital were closed Wednesday in anticipation of the wet, heavy snow, and many schools were closed in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. Hundreds of flights were canceled at Dulles and Reagan National airports.

Update at 10:45 a.m. ET: A 'Bust' For D.C.?