Did Staten Island Chuck see his shadow on Groundhog Day 2026?
New York City's Staten Island Chuck made his weather prediction about an hour after the famous groundhog Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow in Pennsylvania.
Chuck, who calls the Staten Island Zoo home, also saw his shadow and forecasted six more weeks of winter on Monday morning.
According to the legend, if a groundhog sees its shadow, it returns to its hole, meaning six more weeks of cold weather. If the animal doesn't see its shadow, it stays above ground, meaning it's a sign of an early spring.
"We'll get through this together," joked Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon.
The annual ceremony was closed to the public due to weather conditions, but zoo staff streamed the prediction live on Facebook.
NOAA ranked Chuck as the country's most accurate groundhog, according to his predictions from 2005 to 2024.
Phil and Chuck's predictions align
Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his burrow and saw his shadow, meaning he also thinks there will be six more weeks of winter.
More than 30,000 people were in the town of Punxsutawney, about 80 miles from Pittsburgh, to see Phil on Monday morning.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul reacted to the forecasts on social media.
"New York's Groundhog Day predictions are in: Dunkirk Dave is forecasting an early spring, while Staten Island Chuck says winter isn't done yet. I'm going with Dave," she wrote on X.
Dunkirk Dave is a groundhog in Northwest New York who NOAA ranked as No. 12 most accurate out of 19. He has a 50% accuracy rating based on past predictions.
Last year's Groundhog Day prediction
Chuck didn't see his shadow and predicted an early spring in 2025.
The forecast contradicted Phil, who predicted six more weeks of winter. His all-time record consists of 107 predictions of more winter and 21 calls for an early spring.
NOAA officials say Punxutawney Phil is correct about one-third of the time.