Punxsutawney Phil Is NOT the Best at Predicting the Weather—Not Even Close

Published January 31, 2025

This Sunday is Groundhog Day, the time-honoured tradition where North Americans place their faith in a rodent to predict the weather. But here’s the thing—Punxsutawney Phil is terrible at it.

Despite the 4% of people who believe he’s 100% accurate, stats say otherwise. According to data compiled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Phil is only right 35% of the time—ranking him 17th among weather-predicting groundhogs (yes, there are rankings).

So, Who’s the Real MVP of Groundhog Day?

The top spot goes to Staten Island Chuck from New York, with an 85% accuracy rate. Not far behind is General Beauregard Lee from Georgia at 80%, followed by Lander Lil (a bronze prairie dog statue, because why not) at 75%.

Meanwhile, Canada's furry forecasters have had mixed results:
🍁 Shubenacadie Sam (Nova Scotia) – 45% accuracy
🍁 Wiarton Willie (Ontario) – 25% accuracy

To make things worse for Phil, he’s been outperformed by three taxidermied groundhogs—Octoraro Orphie, Poor Richard, and Uni—all of whom had a higher success rate while literally being stuffed.

Oh, and rounding out the list? Mojave Max, a tortoise from Nevada, with 25% accuracy (why he was included is anyone’s guess).