PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (AP) - Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, but it was hard to find a complainer in the crowd on Gobbler's Knob, where the morning temperature was well above freezing and Thursday's high was expected to hit 48 degrees.
There were a few boos at the groundhog's prediction of six more weeks of winter, but most of the hundreds of revelers instead turned the event into an impromptu Pittsburgh Steelers rally.
Fans in football jerseys sang "Here we go Steelers," and members of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club's Inner Circle - the top-hat- and tuxedo-wearing businessmen responsible for carrying on the groundhog tradition each year - threw black and gold Steelers "Terrible Towels" as they waited to rouse Phil from his burrow.
The furry forecaster may be popular, but the Pittsburgh Steelers are playing in the Super Bowl on Sunday...................
AND THE SEAHAWKS WILL WIN! hee hee
Seattle finished up the month with 11.65 inches of rain, making it the wettest January since 1953 -- home of the original rain streak -- when they had 12.92" of rain. (That stands as the wettest month ever in Seattle.)
Overall, this month ranks as the third-wettest month ever, just another heavy shower behind the 11.85" that fell in December 1979.
Update 2: Feb 4 Yes it got a little windy here and it wasn't just the Seahawk fans roaring.....
Wednesday was the 24th consecutive day with measurable rain in Seattle.
This ties it for the third-longest all-time rainy streak in Seattle.Tuesday was the 23rd consecutive day with measurable rain in Seattle.
This makes it the fourth-longest all-time rainy streak in Seattle. Here's the Top 5 rainiest streaks:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Coffee and tea may reduce the risk of serious liver damage in people who drink alcohol too much, are overweight, or have too much iron in the blood, researchers reported on Sunday.
The study of nearly 10,000 people showed that those who drank more than two cups of coffee or tea per day developed chronic liver disease at half the rate of those who drank less than one cup each day.
The study, conducted by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and Social & Scientific Systems, Inc., found that coffee provided no protection to people at risk of liver disease from other causes, such as viral infections.
"While it is too soon to encourage patients to increase their coffee and tea intake, the findings of our study potentially offer people at high-risk for developing chronic liver disease a practical way to decrease that risk," said Dr. Constance Ruhl, who helped lead the study.
"In addition, we hope the findings will offer guidance to researchers who are studying liver disease progression."
Writing in the American Gastroenterological Association journal Gastroenterology, Ruhl and colleagues said caffeine seemed to hold the key.
They analyzed the records of 9,849 participants in a government survey whose coffee and tea intake was evaluated and who were followed for about 19 years.
