It could have been because you were in the shadows of Punxsutawney Ph.

According to reports, Milltown Mel, a New Jersey groundhog, who like his more well-known Pennsylvania counterpart made weather forecasts every February 2. 2, and died just days before Groundhog Day.
Mel "crossed the rainbow bridge", his wranglers posted over the weekend on Facebook. He was approximately three years old.

Milltown is located about 37 miles southwest from the Big Apple. The crew said that it was likely too close to Groundhog Day for them to find a replacement rodent so they would probably have to skip this year's ceremony, Fox 5 reported.

They posted on Facebook that they had tried everything to find a stand-in. "We would have also had to contend with the fact that the county does not rent out the large Showmobile stage because of the pandemic.
They wrote that the wranglers are aiming for a return in 2023.
Other than Punxsutawney, Milltown and Raleigh have their own prognosticating critters.