BOULDER — When you think of Groundhog Day (February 2), one name probably comes to mind: Punxsutawney Phil.

The famed ground-dwelling rodent is synonymous with the holiday. But did you know that Colorado has its own prognosticating rodent?

Flatiron Freddy has been forecasting on the Front Range for over a decade. A stuffed yellow-bellied marmot (a western cousin of the groundhog), Freddy spends most of his time at the Chautauqua Ranger Cottage in Boulder. Stop by and see him after a hike.

On Groundhog Day, Freddy likes to arrive in style. Past years have seen him on skis, rolling in behind the wheel of a monster truck, and dangling from a parachute.

This year, as a nod to the Winter Olympics—opening February 6 in Milan, Italy—Freddy mounted a makeshift curling stone and slid down the ice, helped along by pushbroom-wielding human handlers.

While Phil predicted six more weeks of winter, Freddy says an early spring is coming to the Foothills.

In 2021, I conducted an informal analysis of Freddy's accuracy versus that of Phil and the nation's many other weather-predicting animals. Freddy is right about 90% of the time, I found, far surpassing the accuracy of his more famous East Coast cousin. (Phil's handler at the time took the blame for his estimated 40% prediction accuracy, saying the groundhog always gets it right, but humans often interpret his forecasts incorrectly.)

In that same article, published in Boulder Beat, I wrote of Freddy's colorful backstory:

Freddy is also more than a century old—“centuries,” according to [handler and Open Space Ranger Dave] Gustafson. Cave drawings depict Freddy prognosticating to indigenous peoples. His after-life began one characteristically sunny day in 1977, the legend goes, on the then-open-to-traffic Pearl Street. Freddy was, per usual in his offseason, dodging cars for cash and the delight of onlookers, when tragedy—in the form of a VW bus—struck. Outraged by his death, Boulderites moved to make Pearl Street pedestrian-only, birthing the walking mall we all know and love today and cementing Freddy’s Forrest Gump-like predilection for moving the wheels of history forward.

It is because of Freddy's accuracy and connections to area history that we at The Mountain-Ear decided to replace Phil with our own local four-legged meteorologist. We thank Phil for his many years of service, but we hope you'll welcome Freddy—and his forecast.

Read the full history of Flatiron Freddy at boulderbeat.news. Learn more about Freddy at bouldercolorado.gov/events/groundhog-day-flatiron-freddy