Smith Lake Jake, named for his birthplace along the Alabama Power lake, is a coy one.

Early this morning, while actual flakes of snow dared to spit, the cute critter revealed our fate ­– either six more weeks of winter, or an early spring.

Did he don a little hat adorned with spring flowers or deliver a grim groundhog verdict in a woolly toboggan cap?

Ginger Whitworth, who adopted the prognosticator five years ago, assured us that there’s little margin for statistical error. “He’s 99.9 percent right,” she reported as Smith Lake Jake flaunted his headgear of choice.

Click the video below for a musical ditty by Whitworth and the announcement you’ve awaited from Smith Lake Jake.

– Carolanne Roberts