Photos and video by Jake Frankel
To the chagrin of those hoping for an early spring, Nibbles, Asheville’s very own clairvoyant groundhog, predicts six more weeks of winter weather. Or at least that was the interpretation of WLOS Chief Meteorologist Jason Boyer, who “translated” the adorable rodent’s Feb. 2 forecast at the WNC Nature Center during a Groundhog Day celebration attended by hundreds of onlookers.
Watch video of the event here:
Nibbles’ Chimney Rock colleague, Grady the groundhog, also predicted six more weeks of winter, as well as their more famous Pennsylvania cousin, Punxsutawney Phil.
Meanwhile, some humorous online observers have started questioning Nibbles’ predictive powers. According to Boyer, a former Denver resident and Broncos fan, the groundhog also called for the meteorologist’s favorite team to win the Superbowl. Instead, later that day the Broncos were crushed by the Seattle Seahawks 43-8.
In the wake of that psychic wrong call, the @NCMountainCabin Twitter handle started circulating this image, accusing Nibbles of lying:
We’ll just have to wait and see if Nibbles’ weather forecast comes to fruition.
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