Georgia Groundhog Day 2022: Beauregard Lee makes his prediction
JACKSON, Ga. - Beauregard "Beau" Lee, Georgia's famous groundhog, has made his weather forecast.
Beau emerged from his home in Jackson on Groundhog Day and did not see his shadow.
That means Georgia could be in for an early spring.
Cloudy conditions in Georgia meant shadows were faint.
PUNXSUTAWNEY PHILL PREDICTS 6 MORE WEEKS OF WINTER
Beau may have nailed his forecast, with Atlanta eying potential highs in the 60s on Wednesday.
Where does Beauregard Lee live?
Georgia's Groundhog Day mascots lives at Dauset Trails Nature Center.
Lee moved from the Yellow River Wildlife Sanctuary in Gwinnett County.
History of Georgia's groundhog predictions
Beau's ancestors began predicting seasons on Groundhog day in 1991.
Georgia's groundhogs have only predicted a longer winter three times in the last 31 years.
History of the Groundhog Day tradition
The celebration of Groundhog Day began with Pennsylvania's earliest settlers, according to the groundhog club. They brought with them the legend of Candlemas Day, which states, "For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day, so far will the snow swirl in May...," the club notes on its website.
The ancient Christian tradition of Candlemas included clergy blessing and distributing candles needed for winter. The candles represented how long and cold the winter would be, History.com notes. Germans expanded on this by selecting an animal — the hedgehog — as a means of predicting the weather.
"Once they came to America, German settlers in Pennsylvania continued the tradition, although they switched from hedgehogs to groundhogs, which were plentiful in the Keystone State," the outlet writes.
Punxsutawney held its first Groundhog Day in the 1800s. The first official trek to Gobbler's Knob — a tiny hill just outside of the town — wasn't made until Feb. 2, 1887. That year, Phil saw his shadow.
His first prediction of six more weeks of winter was accurate for a few regions, but it came up short for several others, according to the NOAA.
The Associated Press contributed.