Groundhog star from New Jersey died unexpectedly just before his holiday: the festival was canceled

Milltown Chalk, one of New Jersey's weather forecasters, died on Sunday, January 30th. Death came just a few days before the big annual ceremony. His death was announced on Groundhog's official Facebook page. It was not immediately clear how the groundhog died, reports NBC News.

According to a Facebook post, this year's Groundhog Day celebration in Milltown, New Jersey, cancelled.

“We Wranglers are sad to announce that the Milltown Chalk recently crossed the Rainbow Bridge,” the Facebook post reads. “Mel left us at a difficult time of the year when most of his fellow marmots go into hibernation… so there won't be any cubs to replace him until this spring. We tried everywhere to find a replacement, but to no avail!”

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According to website Milltown, the Milltown Chalk tradition was started by Jerry and Cathy Gatlane, "tradition for 10 years." "On February 2nd of each year, the Milltown Chalk predicts whether we will see the end winters or another six weeks of cold weather.”

The tradition began with the first Groundhog Day, which was first celebrated on February 2, 1887, at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, according to the website.

“According to tradition, if on this day a groundhog crawls out of his hole and sees his shadow, he gets scared and runs back to his hole, predicting another six weeks of winter weather; no shade signifies early spring,” the Milltown website says.

This year, Miltown Chalk mourners are being asked to tune in to its cousins' predictions on Groundhog Day.