There will be six more weeks of winter, Punxsutawney Phil predicted as he emerged from his burrow on a snowy Tuesday morning to perform his Groundhog Day duties. The furry critter was awakened at 7:25 a.m. at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to see whether he would see his shadow or not. Phil saw his shadow - according to his official handlers in the Groundhog Club - which means, according to tradition, we are in for six more weeks of winter.Although the event usually draws an in-person audience of thousands, this year, fans watched virtually as the lovable rodent emerged from his burrow and news outlets reported.  Originating with German settlers, who came to Pennsylvania in the 1700s and brought their seasonal superstitions with them, legend has it that if Phil sees his shadow on February 2nd, the winter chill will continue. 

The Borough of Merchantville has been contacted by a representative of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation. There is a zoom meeting tonight, Tuesday, January 26th from 6:00-7:00 p.m., led by Action Team Leader Anya Saretzky, to get stakeholder input on extending Merchantville's multi-use trail in an easterly and westerly direction. Come learn about the planned Burlington/Camden Trail and how you can get involved. The Circuit Trails Coalition will be sharing brand new concepts for the trail and we want to hear your thoughts! The new trail will connect the Pennsauken and Maple Shade communities to the Merchantville and Dudley Grange Park trails, and beyond. Register to receive a link to attend this zoom meeting to become more familiar with what is happening on the ground and how you can take action to be a more active Circuit Citizen for Camden County.

The National Weather Service issued a Winter Storm Watch for much of central and southern New Jersey. On Sunday, the snow and wintry mix will spread into the Mid-Atlantic region before a potential Nor'easter intensifies and significantly impacts portions of the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast and New England on Monday and Tuesday. Heavy mixed precipitation possible with total snow accumulations of 4 to 12 inches and ice accumulations of around one tenth of an inch possible. Winds could gust as high as 35 mph. Travel could be very difficult to impossible. The hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening commute. Snow will develop west to east late Sunday and last through late Monday or early Tuesday. A period of wintry mix or rain could occur Sunday night and Monday morning, especially along and near the coast, before turning back to snow Monday night. The highest snowfall rates are most likely to occur Sunday night and Monday morning.

News 12 took an interest in Monsterville this week and were live with Mayor Ted Brennan yesterday to ask about the town's decision to discourage Trick-or-Treating this year. Brennan says that one of the main reasons is a lack of resource “To ask our police officers or anybody to go out there and try to enforce a ban on trick-or-treating just didn’t seem realistic,” he says. “We also felt that there’s a subset of the community that feels comfortable participating in Halloween here in ‘Monsterville.’ We wanted them to have the opportunity to continue to do that.” Other Monsterville Halloween traditions will continue to take place like the annual house decorating competition and the annual eighth grade haunted house - now a socially distant parade. Brennan says that Halloween will return in full force for the next year with the motto, "Double the candy in 2021."