Pennsylvania’s legendary Punxsutawney Phil isn’t the only rodent that emerges on Groundhog Day each year to make a “prediction” about whether we will have a long winter or an early spring.
New Jersey has two of its own furry forecasters, including groundhogs Lady Edwina of Essex County and Stonewall Jackson of Sussex County.
The Garden State also has a different type of forecaster getting in on the action this year — an Eastern Box Turtle named Tomothy.
Each of these critters will be making predictions on Monday, Feb. 2, when Groundhog Day 2026 is celebrated.
Lady Edwina is scheduled to emerge from her hibernation around 10 a.m. Monday to make her annual prediction about the weather — along with a prediction about which team will win the Super Bowl.
The event takes place at the Turtle Back Zoo in Essex County and will be streamed live on the Facebook page of Essex County Executive Joseph N DiVincenzo Jr.
In the northwestern corner of New Jersey, a groundhog named Stonewall Jackson will be looking for his shadow at the Space Farms Zoo & Museum in Wantage early Monday morning, according to his handler, Parker Space.
Space, a state senator and volunteer firefighter, is continuing a longtime family tradition that had been started by his father in the 1990s.
Tomothy the turtle is expected to make his first-ever Groundhog Day prediction Monday at the Edelman Fossil Park & Museum at Rowan University.
According to legend, if a groundhog sees its shadow on Feb. 2, the cold winter season will continue for six more weeks. If the sky is cloudy and the groundhog doesn’t see its shadow, we can expect spring weather to arrive earlier than usual.
Whether the legend includes predictions from turtles is anybody’s guess.
Current weather radar
