By Eileen Buckley
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wbfo/local-wbfo-949938.mp3
Dunkirk, NY – Sleet and snow made for an interesting morning for two famous ground hogs forecasters. Nationally, in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, Phil emerged around dawn. It was his 125th annual weather prediction and Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow, predicting an early spring.
Phil made his prediction before thousands who braved the stormy conditions at Gobbler's Knob. In his years of predictions, Phil has spotted his shadow 98-times, but not Wednesday.
But here in Western New York, we have our own friendly rodent predictor -- Dunkirk Dave. The Dunkirk ground hog is considered the world's second longest predictor.
At about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, Dave emerged from his hole in Dunkirk, NY. He didn't see his shadow either. His handler, Bob Will of Dunkirk tells WBFO News that means Dave is predicting early spring weather.
"The ground hog did not see his shadow. There was no sun," said Will.
"It started to rain. This was about 7:30 this morning in Dunkirk, very heavy rain, and it was below freezing. So it was very unusual, never happen before on ground hog day, and I had to call for an umbrella to hold over everybody out there over the ground hog because everything was getting soaked....including the food...I know some people were going to say well that's going to give you a false reading... but we got the reading before we put the umbrella over him," said Will.
This was Dunkirk Dave's 59th prediction. But through the years, there have been several different Dunkirk Dave's that Will has cared for. His favorite treat was a granola bar.
"This morning he was very calm and walked around, eat different cookies and cereal we had out there. He had a good old time," said Will.
Dunkirk Dave has had a 90% plus accuracy.