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Data: Staten Island Chuck Or Punxsutawny Phil — Which Groundhog Is Historically More Accurate?
By
Jen Chung
and
Jacob Dobkin
Published Feb 2, 2021
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NYC Mayor's Office
By
Jen Chung
and
Jacob Dobkin
Published Feb 2, 2021
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It's February 2nd, the day we rely on a rodent to tell us what our meteorological fortune will be for the next six weeks. The internationally renowned Punxsutawny Phil declared this morning that we have six more weeks of winter, but our local folk hero/bête noire of mayors, Staten Island Chuck, claimed that spring is imminent:
Chuck's prognostication was suspiciously made in a pre-taped Staten Island Zoo video, outraging Live Groundhog Performance Enthusiasts. (The virtual ceremony did keep everyone safe. One of his predecessors was fatally dropped by Mayor Bill de Blasio, and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg once called another incarnation of Chuck a "little son of a bitch"... probably because Chuck famously bit him.)
So how much can we trust groundhogs to tell us whether we'll freezing or celebrating outdoor dining in balmy 50-degree weather? It turns out Staten Island Chuck is, on the whole, more reliable than Phil of Punxsutawny, if you look at the past years data:
You may notice some incomplete data in the '90s, to which Jake Dobkin suggested an anti-groundhog conspiracy.
Tagged
groundhog
groundhog day
punxsutawney phil
staten island chuck
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Jacob Dobkin
Jake Dobkin co-founded Gothamist with Jen Chung. In 2019, Jake released Ask a Native New Yorker, a book based on his Gothamist advice column.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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