On Feb 2, Americans across the country turned their attention to a small burrowing rodent for a glimpse into the future of winter. Groundhog Day, once again, sparked debate as Punxsutawney Phil and other forecasting animals made their annual predictions.

This year, Pennsylvania’s Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, signaling six more weeks of winter. His New York rival, Staten Island Chuck, disagreed, predicting an early spring. But they weren’t the only animals weighing in; across the country, different animals made their own calls with mixed results.

“Phil might be the most famous, but his track record isn’t exactly stellar,” Raymond Sanchez of Fox Weather said. “In fact, according to NOAA, he’s among the least accurate.”

Indeed, NOAA’s data shows that Phil has been correct only around 30% of the time over the past decade, ranking 17th out of 19 groundhogs evaluated. Several even inanimate competitors, including three taxidermied groundhogs, outrank him. Georgia’s General Beauregard Lee holds an impressive 80% accuracy rate, while Wyoming’s Lander Lil follows with 75%, with both predicted an early spring. 

Meanwhile, Alabama’s Sand Mountain Sam – though not a groundhog, but an opossum – also predicted an early spring. Sam has only been wrong twice since he began making predictions in 2012, giving him a significantly better track record than Phil.

Similarly, Birmingham Zoo’s groundhog, Bill, opted to stay in hibernation, leaving the prediction up to an opossum named Birmingham Jill, who also called for an early spring.

With competing forecasts and questionable accuracy, Groundhog Day remains more of a lighthearted tradition than a serious meteorological event.

As winter lingers on, only time will tell which furry forecaster got it right.