NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — New York City's resident forecasting groundhog, Staten Island Chuck, spotted his shadow on Monday morning, predicting six more weeks of winter for the already frozen city.
Chuck agreed with national celebrity Punxsutawney Phil's verdict that winter is hanging around—which is good for Phil, who is rated only the 17th most accurate weather-predicting groundhog in the U.S. by the NOAA, while Chuck comes in at number one.
"Say it ain’t so, Chuck! It’s official—Staten Island Chuck has made his prediction and saw his shadow, calling for six more weeks of winter," the Staten Island Zoo wrote on social media. "With an 85% accuracy rate, do we believe the hog?"
Students from Susan E. Wagner High School were in attendance at the Groundhog Day event, and will be keeping track of upcoming weather to see if Chuck's forecast holds up. Many of the students were unhappy with his report, however, giving the beloved a hog a big "boo!'
"I'm a little upset, I mean, I thought me and Chuck were closer than this, I thought we had something good going," Veronica told 1010 WINS, chagrining the winter prediction.