Chuckles the groundhog: 'winter is canceled'

Chuckles was awakened a little after 5 a.m. for her big day, and she kinda looks like you might if you woke up from a sound sleep to find TV cameras two feet from your face. But she's survived worse. She was hit by a car a few years ago and brought to the Lutz Children's Museum for rehabilitation.

"And during her rehab it was decided that she was non-releasable. That didn't give Chuckles very many choices," said groundhog handler Rachel Hadyka. "Luckily here at the museum we have lots of experience taking care of groundhogs."

This is the 7th Chuckles the groundhog they've had and each February 2nd they come out on stage and predict the winter weather for a room full of fans.

"He's going to see if his shadow is there. If it is, 6 more weeks, if it isn't then winter might be around the corner," explained 6-year-old Lillian Westerberg.

Chuckles whispered her answer to Leo Diana, the Mayor of Manchester, who is the only one who can speak Groundhog and interpret the official prediction.

"Chuckles just said that winter is canceled this year. Spring is here," Diana said. "This part's a little hard...Go Patriots!"

The Patriots will face off against the Giants in the Super Bowl this coming Sunday.

[Check out the forecast]

As far as some Connecticut residents are concerned, winter never started. The October snowfall happened prior to the winter season. However, even with the accumulation from the Autumn Nor'easter, most locations in the state have received below average snowfall season-to-date.

Bridgeport recorded zero snowfall in the months of November and December. In that same time period, temperatures averaged an even 5 degrees above average while temperatures in the month of January finished 5.6 degrees above average.

The winter of 2011-2012 is on track to be one of the mildest, least snowy winters of all time, according to Meteorologist Quincy Vagell.

February is already off to an incredibly mild start, as much of the state cracked the 60-degree mark on Wednesday.

Storm Team 8 meteorologists say the long-range weather forecasts don't show any significant changes in the pattern. Aside from the occasional cool-down, temperatures will continue to average on the order of 4 to 8 degrees above normal.