Groundhog Day: Buckeye Chuck says more winter

COLUMBUS – Ohio’s furry forecaster disagrees with two of his counterparts on whether we will see six more weeks of this mild winter or an early spring.

Marion’s Buckeye Chuck saw his shadow when he emerged from his burrow shortly after 7:30 on the morning of Groundhog Day 2016.

Yikes! I see my shadow on the ground, it looks like winter will stay around. #Prognostication: #sixmore weeks of winter…#GroundhogDay

— Buckeye Chuck (@OHBuckeyeChuck) February 2, 2016

A German legend has it that if a groundhog sees his shadow on Feb. 2, winter will last another six weeks. If not, spring comes early.

Punxsutawney Phil, according to his handlers on Gobbler’s Knob in Puxsutawney, Pa., failed to see his shadow, meaning he has “predicted” an early spring.

In New York, Staten Island Chuck agrees with Phil; an early spring is coming.

Neither Chuck nor Phil has a particularly good track record. According to Cleveland.com, Chuck has been wrong eight out of the last 10 years, predicting an “early spring” in 2015, a forecast that was followed by the coldest February in a decade.

An analysis published in USA Today says Phil has s been “right” 13 times and “wrong” 15 times since 1988.