General Beauregard Lee is a

groundhog The groundhog (''Marmota monax''), also known as the woodchuck, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. A lowland creature of North America, it is found through much of the Easte ...

in the US state of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

widely considered to be the

Groundhog Day Groundhog Day (, , , ; Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia: Daks Day) is a tradition observed regionally in the United States and Canada on February 2 of every year. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if ...

weather prognosticator for the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

. The previous forecaster before General Beauregard Lee was General Robert E. Lee, who started making predictions in 1981. He was named after the American

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

General of the same name. General Beauregard Lee's first nationally televised appearance was in 1988. General Beauregard Lee resided at Yellow River Game Ranch in

Gwinnett County, Georgia Gwinnett County ( ) is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. It forms part of the Atlanta metropolitan area, being located about northeast of Atlanta city limits. In 2020, the population was 957,062, making it the ...

for 27 years until the ranch suddenly closed in December 2017. He was then relocated to Dauset Trails Nature Center in

Jackson, Georgia Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Butts County, Georgia, United States. The population was 5,045 in 2010, up from 3,934 at the 2000 census. In 2020, its population was 5,557. The community was named after governor James Jackson. Hi ...

, to carry on his weather-predicting tradition. In 2025, the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with Weather forecasting, forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, Hydrography, charting the seas, ...

calculated General Lee to be more accurate than Punxsutawney Phil, boasting an 80% accurate rate compared to Phil's 35%. The groundhog-sized ante-bellum style mansion that General Lee lives in is known as Weathering Heights.

Past predictions

List of individual General Lee namesakes

*General Robert E. Lee (1981-1991): This General Lee was considered to have had predicted the weather correctly nine out of ten times from 1981 to 1990. General Robert E. Lee retired in 1991 after he became too old and too fat. In February 1991, a commemorative marker was put on display at Yellow River Game Ranch in celebration of his retirement. *General Beauregard Lee (1991-): He was born in 1990 and was a distant relation of the previous General Lee. His namesake is an homage to Generals P. G. T. Beauregard and

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...

. In 1991, he and General Robert E. Lee shared the role of groundhog prognosticator at Yellow River Game Ranch, and the next year Beauregard Lee had his first solo role. He was considered to have gotten the prediction for 1993 wrong due the blizzard that hit the South that year.

References

External links

Official BioBook entitled "Groundhog Day" by Don Yoder
{{Groundhog Day Individual groundhogs Holiday characters Oracular animals Individual animals in the United States Groundhog Day