Groundhog Day 2021 prediction: Staten Island Chuck calls for an early spring

That event will be streamed on Facebook because the zoo is closed.

Shortly after 8 a.m., Chuck - aka Charles G. Hogg - crawled out of his burrow in search of his shadow, but to no avail.

"Shortly after this year's prediction was revealed, one of the members of the inner circle shared a message he said Phil had told him earlier in the day: 'After winter, you're looking forward to one of the most attractive and brightest springs you've ever seen'". If he does not, spring is forecast to come early. "Spring is coming", Brian Gomez, of event sponsor Investors Bank said in a video message. The 2020 forecast called for an early spring - however, Phil didn't say anything about a pandemic.

Now, the fact the woodchuck is expecting more cold days ahead isn't all that surprising. the furry little bastards have predicted that 106 times over the course of a 135-year run that they've been looking to Phil for a weather report.

Staten Island Chuck will be asked for his prophecy at the Staten Island Zoo in NY at around 8am local time (1pm Irish time) today. He has made an incorrect prediction only once since 2010.

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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.

The Groundhog Day tradition can be traced to Candlemas, an early Christian holiday where candles were blessed and distributed.

So, keep an eye out for your local groundhog's weather prediction tomorrow, but just know, no matter what shadow does or does not appear, the COVID Horror Winter will probably continue until July at least.

Dubbed Punxsutawney Phil, the rodent - or more precisely a succession of them with the same name - was given the moniker in 1961, with Groundhog Day legend suggesting he was originally named after the Duke of Edinburgh. And it was the Germans who brought this belief to the United States. The editor of the Punxsutawney newspaper was a member of the club, and he claimed that Punxsutawney Phil was the only true weather-predicting groundhog.