Staten Island Chuck: Spring is coming early!

Credit: New York Daily News/Bonifacio for News

New York’s very own groundhog, Staten Island’s Chuck, predicts an early spring. The borough’s weather prophet emerged from his cage early this morning and did not see his shadow, indicating that the winter is ending soon!

Mayor Bloomberg graced the occasion, holding the Staten Island Zoo celebrity, with gloves in his hands this time. After the pleasant discovery, the Mayor asked, “…what mayor in the world would predict a long winter?”

The old-style and superstitious weather forecast came as New Yorkers suffered its eight snow storm, adding to the already record-breaking winter streak the city has endured this season.

Chuck’s alleged cousin, world-renowned groundhog Punxsutawney Phil (or Punxsy Phil) of Pennsylvania agrees with him. As his handlers wrote on Phil’s site, “He surveyed his surroundings carefully and found that there was no shadow around, so, an early spring it will be.”

In an age of weather radars and real-time weather reports, celebrity rodents and a decades-old tradition has been deemed more trustworthy in predicting the end of the cold season.