Sir Walter Wally predicts six more weeks of winter

Frustrated forecasters got a day off Saturday when Sir Walter Wally, the Triangle's answer to Pennsylvania's Punxsutawney Phil, saw his shadow and predicted six more weeks of winter. 

Saturday afternoon, Wally's prediction seemed quite appropriate. Temperatures were in the low 40s across much of central North Carolina, and some spots in the western part of the state were seeing snow flurries. 

Some flurries could reach the Triangle Saturday evening, but no accumulation is expected, WRAL meteorologist Aimee Wilmoth said. 

Bill Deeley, president of the Inner Circle, says that after "consulting" with Phil, he makes the call in deciphering what the world's Punxsutawney Phil has to say about the weather.

Phil is known as the "seer of seers" and "sage of sages." Organizers predicted about 20,000 people this weekend, a larger-than-normal crowd because Groundhog Day falls on a weekend this year.

In Raleigh, Groundhog Day festivities began at the museum at 9 a.m. Following Wally's prediction, an afternoon full of activities will keep kids entertained until 5 p.m.

"We have a of activities for kids," Bonnie Eamick, with the Museum of Natural sciences, said. "We have crafts, games, Wally, and then kids can also come and learn what animals do during the winter."

The Groundhog Day celebration is rooted in a German superstition that says if a hibernating animal casts a shadow on Feb. 2, the Christian holiday of Candlemas, winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow was seen, legend said spring would come early.

Garner will get in on the act as well, as Mortimer the Groundhog makes his prediction at the White Deer Park Nature Center at noon.