As we awake to an overnight low at or near 36 degrees friends and relatives in Chicago awoke to wind chill values of -43 degrees. Other locations note Fargo, Sioux Falls, Hibbing, Minnesota at -47.  Pittsburgh greeted the day at -19. In 2013 researchers determined that the lowest air temperature ever recorded at a weather station was -89 degrees at Russia's Vostok Station in 1983. This was accomplished with the analysis of satellite measurements which later verified the reading to be -93 degrees.  In closing the "big" event is this Saturday. Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania attracts thousands on February 2. Tourism has become one of the leading industries for this community, directly related to this single event.  Early Saturday morning. a groundhog will be “extracted” from his sleep, held before the crowd and then asked to make a prediction based upon his shadow. Each year, PETA or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals contend that this action traumatizes Phil and believe Phil should be replaced with an “animatronics model.” Representatives of the Inner Circle of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club believe Phil is treated better than the average child, kept in a climate controlled environment and annually inspected. An animatronics model is similar to the gopher that what was used in the movie Caddy Shack.