Chuck says early spring; Phil disagrees

MARION – Buckeye Chuck says we are in for an early spring in Ohio.

The beloved furry creature emerged at 7:39 a.m. Monday at the studios of WMRN radio and did not see his shadow. That drew cheers from the crowd of about 40 people gathered in the cold and snowy conditions.

Local officials were on hand with proclamations. One said Phil has a 75 percent accuracy rate in his predictions.

Marion Mayor Scott Schertzer called the Groundhog Day events "a Marion tradition."

Punxsutawney Phil saw the forecast another way.

The handlers of Pennsylvania's most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, say the furry rodent has forecast six more weeks of winter.

Members of the top hat-wearing Inner Circle announced the forecast just before 7:30 a.m. Monday.

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

In reality, Phil's prediction is decided ahead of time by the group on Gobbler's Knob, the tiny hill in the town for which he's named about 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

Records going back to 1887 show Phil has now predicted more winter 102 times while forecasting an early spring just 17 times. There are no records for the remaining years.

Since 2010, Buckeye Chuck has not been afraid at the cloudy sunrise. He has predicted an early spring for Ohio five years in a row. Last year, he was quite off the mark.

Buckeye Chuck has been predicting weather since he was declared the official State Groundhog in 1979 by the Ohio General Assembly.