Groundhog Day 2012 and the climate

The Associated Press has raw footage of the announcement.




As you can see and hear, Punxsutawney Phil (or rather, his human handlers) declared that there will be six more weeks of winter. As you can also see and hear, that was not a popular pronouncement. It's also a contested one, as the Los Angeles Times reported that the other animals observed today predicted an early spring.

From Canada to Staten Island to the tiny town of Dunkirk, N.Y., on the shores of Lake Erie, other groundhogs competing for the title of grand prognosticator offered differing opinions on this Groundhog Day, which marks the midway point of winter. Perhaps they were confused by the unseasonably warm weather across much of the eastern half of the country. The temperature Wednesday at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport hit a record for the day: 64 degrees. That's more than 20 degrees above normal for this time of year.

The number one competitor for Punxsutawney Phil is Staten Island Chuck. What did he predict?

Groundhog Day 2012: Staten Island Chuck predicts early spring

With the aid of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Staten Island's furry prognosticator did not see his shadow this morning in a ceremony at the Staten Island Zoo.

Staten Island Chuck's predicted that milder weather is likely to be with us until spring arrives on the calendar in late March.

Not only is Staten Island Chuck's prediction going to be more popular, I suspect it will be more accurate. The Los Angeles Times relayed the following.

The Staten Island Zoo claims that Chuck has correctly predicted the duration of winter 80% of the time since the 1980s.

Personally, I'm banking on Chuck. After the first significant snowfall coming in late January, there was a second snowstorm that hit over last weekend, which actually dropped more snow, despite getting less hype. Monday's commute was no fun, but Tuesday, the temperature was in the high 50s and the snow all melted. Today, it may as well be mid-March.

Of course, Detroit just finished a wild year in weather as did the country as a whole, so I wouldn't be surprised by anything that came along. For example, I was supposed to be at a rally in Washington D.C. the Saturday before Halloween, but missed it because I went to Mexico. The rally got hit by a freak early ice-storm, which became a blizzard farther north and east. Good thing I went to Mexico instead!