Groundhog Day 2025 forecast: Could weather affect General Beauregard Lee's prediction
General Beauregard Lee (Dauset Trails Nature Center)
JACKSON, Ga. - Sunday marks the day all of Georgia will look to a groundhog to see if we'll be dealing with more freezing weather or if spring flowers will be popping up soon.
If General Beauregard "Beau" Lee, Georgia's famous groundhog, sees his shadow when he leaves his stately mansion at Jackson's Dauset Trails Nature Center, folklore says we'll have six more weeks of winter. No shadow means an early spring for all.
Whether you're going to join in the festivities or staying at home waiting for the prediction, here's what the weather will be like on Groundhog Day.
SEE MORE: What time will General Beauregard Lee make his prediction?
Groundhog Day weather forecast for Georgia
The hundreds of visitors heading to Dauset Trails Nature Center will have some nice weather as they hope for a good outcome from Beau.
Temperatures will start out cold with a low of 44 degrees, but things will quickly heat up and reach the high temperature of 66. The morning should be sunny, which may mean more chance of shadows.
Whatever Beau's prediction is, the FOX 5 Storm Team says that the warm weather is here to stay - at least for a while. Temperatures will continue to be above-average across the Peach State with mild weather and the possibility for a scattering of clouds.
Who is General Beauregard Lee?
The backstory:
Beau is no ordinary groundhog — he’s the South’s official weather prognosticator, continuing a tradition that started in 1981. Named after two Confederate generals, Robert E. Lee and P.G.T. Beauregard, Beau took over from his ancestor in 1991 and now lives in style at Dauset Trails in his custom antebellum mansion, Weathering Heights.
Beau’s previous home at Yellow River Wildlife Sanctuary in Gwinnett County closed in 2017, but he’s been thriving in his new digs ever since.
Groundhog Day history
Big picture view:
Groundhog Day traces its roots to ancient Celtic traditions, where Imbolc marked the midway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. Early Christians celebrated Candlemas around the same time, and German immigrants brought the custom of weather-forecasting animals to America, swapping European hedgehogs and badgers for the native groundhog.
Which groundhog is more accurate?
By the numbers:
According to a 2022 study by FiveThirtyEight.com, Beau boasts a 63% accuracy rate for predictions from 2012 to 2021, outshining Phil’s 45.5%. The Dauset Trails Nature Center claims Beau’s accuracy is even higher, somewhere in the 90% range.
Last year, both Phil and Beau predicted an early spring.
The Source: Information for this story came from previous FOX 5 reporting, a release by the Dauset Trails Nature Center, and the Associated Press.