Georgia Groundhog Day 2023: General Beauregard Lee makes his weather prediction

Gen. Beauregard Lee predicts early spring

Georgia's own groundhog Beauregard Lee didn't see his shadow, unlike his counterpart to the north. He's predicting an early spring for the South.

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - Should you get ready to bundle up for more weeks or winter or be excited for an early spring? Georgia's famous groundhog General Beauregard "Beau" Lee has made his big weather forecast for 2023

Thursday morning, officials at the Dauset Trails Nature Center announced the groundhog did not see his shadow - meaning we're going to have an early spring.

Lee's prediction contradicts his fellow groundhog Punxsutawney Phil, who announced that there would be six more weeks of winter

GROUNDHOG DAY 2023: SEE PUNXSUTAWNEY PHIL'S PREDICTION

Beau's ancestors began predicting seasons on Groundhog Day in 1981. He moved to the nature center from the Yellow River Wildlife Sanctuary in Gwinnett County.

Unlike Phil, Georgia's groundhogs have only predicted a longer winter three times in the last 32 years. The last time a long winter was predicted was in 2019.

And according to PolitiFact in 2011, Lee has a better track record than Phil.

"Georgia’s underhog is the champion, paws down," PolitFact wrote.

Groundhog Day weather forecast

This Groundhog Day will be a washout in Georgia. Rain should be scattered and light in the morning but will pick up in the afternoon and at night.

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.