MARION TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Woody the Woodchuck, billed as the state's official groundhog, made her prediction Tuesday morning at the Howell Conference and Nature Center: six more weeks of winter.
Last year, Woody was recovering from a respiratory infection and sat out the annual event as another groundhog made the not-so-scientific forecast for how long winter might last.
If Woody emerges from her house and stays out for 30 seconds or longer, she is indicating an early spring; if she doesn't come out or runs back into her house before the 30 seconds are up, she is forecasting six more weeks of winter.
Woody didn't emerge from her house at all.
Woody's prediction is made on the same day as Groundhog Day's most famous and furry prognosticator: Pennsylvania's Punxsutawney Phil - he predicted an early spring.