Feb. 2 is Groundhog Day, which means people nationwide are visiting rodents for their weather predictions.
Driving the news: We asked Axios Atlanta readers to pick the best prognosticator between two groundhogs: Pennsylvania’s Punxsutawney Phil or Georgia’s own Gen. Beauregard “Beau” Lee.
- 67.2% picked Beau .
- Overall, 279 of you responded to the poll. We guess y’all rely on human meteorologists.
How it works: Thousands of visitors annually trek to western Pennsylvania on Feb. 2 to witness Punxsutawney Phil step out of his burrow.
- If he sees his shadow: six more weeks of winter.
- No shadow: early spring.
Zoom in: Phil may be America’s most popular groundhog, but in Georgia, Beau calls the shots.
- Officials at the Dauset Trails Nature Center in Jackson will pull Beau out of his miniature mansion to announce if he saw his shadow at 7:30am.
- Beau’s ancestors began their forecasting in 1981, according to Fox 5 Atlanta .
- Beau previously lived at Gwinnett County’s Yellow River Wildlife Sanctuary, according to the AJC .
- The AJC also reports Beau has honorary doctorates in “Weather Prognostication” from the University of Georgia and “Southern Groundhogology” from Georgia State University.