Did You Know New York Has its Own Weather Predicting Groundhog?

Punxsutawney Phil may get the big spotlight on Groundhog Day, but did you know Western New York has its own weather predicting groundhog?

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According to a report by Adam Duke and Adam Gorski of WIVB, Dunkirk Dave has been predicting whether we'll have a long winter or early spring for over 50 years. And wouldn't you know it, Dunkirk Dave's predictions over the last 22 years have been a lot more accurate than Punxsutawney Phil's.

A graph in the report shows that since 2000, Dunkirk Dave has correctly predicted the weather outlook 47.8% of the time, while the famed Punxsutawney Phil predicted the weather correctly only 30.4% of that time.

And the groundhogs are at odds again this year. A report by M.J. Stafford of Observer Today said that Dunkirk Dave predicted an early spring while Punxsutawney Phil is predicting a long winter. In fact, if Dave is right again this year it will bring his record since 2000 back to the .500 mark and make him almost twice as accurate as Pennsylvania's groundhog.

Now this is exactly what Groundhog Day needed. Interstate beef. The reason that a competitive league of weather predicting groundhogs hasn't started yet is a mystery to me. Not only would it add a lot more excitement to the mix, but it might inspire Punxsutawney Phil to reconsider his current plan of resting on his laurels and never getting the weather prediction correct.

If Dunkirk Dave or another weather predicting groundhog gets on a hot streak over the next few years, Punxsutawney Phil might not be making as many national television appearances.