MARION, Ohio — Crowds gathered early Sunday morning to watch Ohio’s famous groundhog Buckeye Chuck make his 2025 weather prediction.
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Chuck didn’t see his shadow due to cloudy skies, so he predicted an early spring for Ohio.
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Chuck is touted as “Ohio’s Chief Prognosticating Groundhog since 1979.”
The speaker at Buckeye Chuck’s event said 30 of his 41 predictions have been correct.
Buckeye Chuck’s annual prediction takes place at a Columbus-area radio station, WMRN AN every Feb. 2. But this year the event took place at the Marion County Fairgrounds instead.
Pennslyvania’s Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and predicted another six weeks of winter.
Only time will tell if Chuck’s prediction was correct.
First celebration: The first Groundhog Day was celebrated at Gobbler’s Knob on Feb. 2, 1887. According to History.com, the idea came from Clymer Freas, a newspaper editor in Punxsutawney, who belonged to a group of groundhog hunters. His newspaper, The Punxsutawney Spirit, is credited with printing the news of the first observance in 1886, according to the website of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.
Origins: The day was originally known as Candlemas Day, which was the midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. It was celebrated in Europe, with Germans adopting a hedgehog to determine whether the rest of the winter would be bitter or mild. German settlers who came to Pennsylvania in the 18th century continued the tradition, substituting a groundhog.
Other predictors: What other rodents predict the weather on Feb. 2? Birmingham Bill, who prognosticates from the Birmingham Zoo in Alabama; and Staten Island Chuck in the New York metropolitan area. Not to be outdone, Canada has its own rodent, Shubenacadie Sam, who emerges from his burrow in Nova Scotia.
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