As the first month of 2023 closes out, Connecticut residents must be wondering: will we get an early spring this year?

The short answer is: YES!

Groundhog Day first originated through a German superstition, and was popularized in North America, specifically by those who immigrated to Pennsylvania in the 17th-18th century. Every year on February 2nd, the land-dwelling critter comes out of its hole and predicts the weather for the coming weeks. If the groundhog sees its shadow (sunny days), we can expect six more weeks of winter, but if the groundhog doesn’t see its shadow (cloudy days), we can expect an early spring.

The event is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. The media covers this nationally recognized groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, for his forecast. This year, Punxsutawney Phil turned around to look at his shadow and announced that America can, in fact, look forward to a couple more weeks of cold weather.

However, in Connecticut, Chuckles XI, our official state woodchuck of two years, has come out of his burrow and declared that we can expect warmer temperatures soon by not turning around to see his shadow. This will be the first early spring in two years and the first ever predicted by Chuckles XI since his induction in 2021, after the death of predecessor Chuckles X in October of 2020. This annual event takes place at the Lutz Children’s Museum, where Chuckles resides for the rest of the year.

Due to the idea of Groundhog Day emerging from a myth, we, unfortunately, can’t rely too much on Chuckles or Phil’s forecast, and historically, the predictions have only had around a 40% accuracy, according to Live Science. In spite of this, it’s still very fun to let go of your daily worries and suspend disbelief to watch an animal come out of the ground to tell you what the coming months will look like. In fact, grab a bucket of popcorn and relax with the 1993 hit movie Groundhog Day. All in all, Groundhog Day is just some timeless humor for a couple of good laughs with kids.