LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Move over Punxsutawney Phil, Louisville's got its own season-predicting animal to determine if winter is sticking around or not.
On Friday, the largest and most well-known Groundhog Day celebration in the United States took place at Gobbler's Knob in Pennsylvania. There, Phil predicted we'll have an early spring.
But here at home, the Louisville Zoo's Linnaeus's two-toed sloth, Sunni, would say otherwise.
Nicknamed the "Royal Princess of Prognosticators," zoo officials said if Sunni came out of her hammock Friday morning, it meant spring is here.
Unfortunately -- or fortunately, if you love the cold weather -- Sunni did not come out of her hammock, meaning we still have another six weeks of winter to get through.
Sunni isn't the only animal giving insights on the upcoming forecast though.
According to the Associated Press, among more than a dozen reports of weather-predicting groundhogs early Friday, 10 were on Phil’s side and just three warned of six more weeks of winter.
But how accurate are these predictions? Well, in Phil's case not so much.
Even with more than 100 years of "forecasting experience," Phil's only been right 39% of the time since his first prediction in 1887. In the past ten years, he's been right on average 40% of the time.
And if you are wondering, Louisville Zoo officials do admit although sloths can't predict future weather patterns, they are still fascinating animals to learn about! Learn more about Sunni here!
The best way to know whether or not we'll have more winter weather or an early spring is to stay up-to-date with the certified "Most Accurate" WHAS11 First Alert StormTeam.
And if you didn't know, Groundhog Day is Meteorologist Alden German's favorite time of year. Watch this hilarious video from 2023 below.
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