Buckeye Chuck Prediction History
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Historical Reference
The Buckeye Chuck Prediction Record
Buckeye Chuck has been Ohio's official weather-predicting groundhog since 1979. The first official forecast in the surviving researched record is from 1980. This page preserves the most accurate year-by-year prediction log currently available to the WMRN Radio History Archive.
The Record
What the surviving record shows
From 1980 through 2026, 43 Buckeye Chuck forecasts are presently documented: 31 early-spring predictions and 12 predictions of six more weeks of winter.
Four official-era years remain unresolved: 1982, 1985, 1992, and 1995. The Archive does not assign a prediction to those years without stronger evidence.
Standardized NOAA Comparison
Buckeye Chuck vs. Punxsutawney Phil
Chuck leads by 25 percentage points in NOAA's February 2, 2026 analysis covering 2006–2025.
1980–2026
Year-by-Year Prediction Log
In Groundhog Day tradition, seeing a shadow means six more weeks of winter; no shadow means an early spring. Missing years are left unresolved rather than inferred.
Longer Winter = Saw shadow
Unresolved = No verified prediction
| Year | Prediction | Shadow | Record Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 2025 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 2024 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 2023 | Six More Weeks of Winter | Saw shadow | Recorded |
| 2022 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 2021 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 2020 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 2019 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 2018 | Six More Weeks of Winter | Saw shadow | Recorded |
| 2017 | Six More Weeks of Winter | Saw shadow | Recorded |
| 2016 | Six More Weeks of Winter | Saw shadow | Recorded |
| 2015 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 2014 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 2013 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 2012 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 2011 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 2010 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 2009 | Six More Weeks of Winter | Saw shadow | Recorded |
| 2008 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 2007 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 2006 | Six More Weeks of Winter | Saw shadow | Recorded |
| 2005 | Six More Weeks of Winter | Saw shadow | Recorded |
| 2004 | Six More Weeks of Winter | Saw shadow | Recorded |
| 2003 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 2002 | Six More Weeks of Winter | Saw shadow | Recorded |
| 2001 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 2000 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 1999 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 1998 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 1997 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 1996 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 1995 | Unrecorded | Unknown | Unresolved |
| 1994 | Six More Weeks of Winter | Saw shadow | Recorded |
| 1993 | Six More Weeks of Winter | Saw shadow | Recorded |
| 1992 | Unrecorded | Unknown | Unresolved |
| 1991 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 1990 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 1989 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 1988 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 1987 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 1986 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 1985 | Unrecorded | Unknown | Unresolved |
| 1984 | Six More Weeks of Winter | Saw shadow | Recorded |
| 1983 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 1982 | Unrecorded | Unknown | Unresolved |
| 1981 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
| 1980 | Early Spring | No shadow | Recorded |
Open Research
Four years still need documentation
1982, 1985, 1992, and 1995 remain unrecorded in the best-supported WMRN-aligned historical record currently available.
Some secondary internet sources assign predictions to several of these years, but the WMRN Radio History Archive is retaining them as unresolved until sufficient primary-source documentation—such as contemporary newspaper coverage, WMRN audio, scripts, photographs, or station records—is located.