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MisterPaulCraig OP t1_j6xdy05 wrote

Map can be found at https://groundhog-day.com/map

I'm the creator of the site: over the last year, I've spent many hours on this side project, finding North America's predicting groundhogs and plotting them on a map. I've also included a link to a 'profile' page with a photo and their latest prediction. The sources for the individual groundhogs can be found on their profile pages (under "Source"). It's super fun to browse, and it works reasonably well on a phone.

I'll be updating them during the day — the predictions come in at different times, so I'm still halfway through getting them up to speed.

I've used Leaflet.js to build the map with a monochrome tileset and custom pins. It's an open-source repo, so you can find the code here used to implement the map: https://github.com/pcraig3/ghog-day/blob/main/public/javascripts/map.js

It's my first time ever building a map, but I am pretty happy with it so far.

Also happy to take feedback if you have any!

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[deleted] t1_j6xr0wo wrote

[deleted]

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MisterPaulCraig OP t1_j6y50wc wrote

Thanks!

Do you mean average predictions for the year or do you mean the average weather?

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Galaghan t1_j6yyem4 wrote

Predictions of what? How? No wait, what?

I feel like I'm missing a lot here.

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MisterPaulCraig OP t1_j6z024j wrote

Groundhog Day is a North American holiday where groundhogs predict the arrival of spring. According to tradition, if a groundhog sees its shadow on February 2nd, it means six more weeks of winter. No shadow means an early spring.

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Galaghan t1_j6z11ux wrote

What does "sees it's shadow" mean?

Aren't groundhogs jittery creatures that look around constantly? How would they not see their shadow?

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MisterPaulCraig OP t1_j6z9bw6 wrote

In practice, I think it means that if the sun is out it will see its shadow. You can get more of the lore on this page: https://groundhog-day.com/history-of-groundhog-day

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DoubleFelix t1_j701h2d wrote

Which is weird; I'd expect a shadow to mean more sun to mean clearer skies to mean more spring-like. Maybe these groundhogs know something about meteorology that I don't.

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MisterPaulCraig OP t1_j70ro5f wrote

It's counterintuitive, but spring weather is usually pretty overcast and grey, which is what this comes from I think.

> Spring weather can be pretty miserable — oftentimes it’s grey and rainy and wet — whereas the middle of winter has plenty of bright, clear days where it is insensibly cold outside. Essentially, the Candlemas prediction assumes that overcast weather is a harbinger of spring, whereas a clear day means you’re still in the thick of winter.

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