Sometime between 7 and 7:30 this morning, a little weather-wise rodent will peek out of his Pennsylvania den and decide whether or not our weather will be wintry this spring.

For the 102nd consecutive time, Punxsutawney Phil, the world's favorite furry weather forecaster, will make his prediction for the remainder of the season.

William Null, executive director for the Punxsutawney Chamber of Congress and Secretary of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, said Phil "has great intuition" about the climatic patterns of late winter.

So is it going to get cold again?

"You can't tell before he decides," says Null. "But he has always been right, according to us."

In that case, the chances are that the current warming trend will not last. Phil has predicted an early spring only eight times in the past century: in 1890, 1902, 1934, 1950, 1970, 1975, 1983 and 1986.

Null said the Punxsutawney tradition began in 1887, but the groundhog's weather reasoning has been well-known since ancient times.

He explained the tradition started with the Roman Legions that explored Scotland. They believed that if the sun appeared on "Candlemas Day," a little animal would see its shadow and foretell of frigid days ahead.

This legend gave birth to a couplet which sums it up nicely -- "If Candlemas Day is bright and clear, there'll be two winters in the year."

In 1989, the scene is shifted to Punxsutawney, Pa., population 8,000. And the little town is prepared for a festival, even if Phil's prediction is a party-pooper.

Several hours before Phil's appearance, 12 dapper members of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, nicknamed the "Inner Circle," will don tuxedos and carry Phil from his home at the zoo to an electrically lighted and heated burrow atop Gobbler's Knob.

At dawn, he will awake and greet his admiring fans. Groundhog Club President James Means will interpret Phil's "groundhogese," for the rest of the non-rodent crowd.

"Then the whole world will know his prediction," Null said.

And while the town celebrates, Phil will go back home and snooze -- whether it snows or not.