NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Carlos became a local celebrity last year when Collierville Mayor Stan Joyner named him the prognosticator for the town.
ABC 24 News Meteorologist Chelsea Chandler, who loves Groundhog Day, was worried it would be ruined by COVID. So she went on the hunt for a local prognosticator of our own.
In the end, she found Collierville Carlos.
After a year of strenuous work overcoming his nocturnal nature, he learned what a shadow was, in time to predict the future for Collierville and Tennesseans in their time of need.
Similar to the famed groundhog from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, Carlos learned how to use his shadow to predict if there will be an early spring, or six more weeks of winter.
Ahead of Gov. bill Lee’s January 31 State of the State address in Nashville, state Rep. John Gillespie from Memphis proposed naming the masked mammal the official Tennessee State Prognosticator, to much applause in the Tennessee House of Representatives chamber.
Carlos warmed the hearts of professional politicians, although the House was not officially in session that day.
Carlos would later deliver the official prognostication to Joyner:
"I, Carlos of Collierville, present to thee, my official prognostication on this the 2nd of February.
I may look like a bandit, but I will never tell a lie. So don’t worry about the forecast from that Punxsutawney Phil guy.
Alas I must say, six more weeks of winter, since my shadow I did see.
And that is my official prognostication for the State of Tennessee."
The proposal was officially signed into law on February 10 and sealed by Gov. Lee on Wednesday, February 16.
