Concord Casimir, the locally famous weather predicting cat, made his much-anticipated Groundhog Day forecast today, Monday, Feb. 2 at Ellison Creek Knob in Concord.

Casimir predicts waves of unseasonably cold weather to continue in Northeast Ohio and last through the end of our winter. “Don’t put your ‘gacies’ [long underwear] away,” declares Casimir to his handler, John Niedzialek.
Concord Casimir eating his pierogies in 2016. This year, his pierogi split in half, resulting in a “Pierogi Vortex.”How do we know this? It’s all in the way Casimir eats his pierogis, explains Niedzialek, master of ceremonies in the annual Groundhog Day prediction ritual. He adds that, this year, something seldom seen in pierogi forecasting happened: Casimir’s pierogi split in half while he was eating.

“That is a Pierogi Vortex, folks,” Niedzialek says, “and that means waves of cold will continue to split off from our polar region and head our way.”

We have all heard the meteorologists with their fancy terms like polar vortex, El Nino, and La Nina, but few have heard about the pierogi vortex until this year.

Casimir’s forecasts have been spot-on for all of his career says Niedzialek, so why doubt him now?

Niedzialek and Casimir say, “We know that there is an animal in Pennsylvania that gets a lot of attention in predicting the weather, but we don’t mention the ‘P’ word around here. It’s kind of like Ohio State fans referring to ‘that team up north.’

Casimir spends a lot of time studying the weather and gets a chuckle out of some of the 'fancy pants' meteorologists trying to compete with his forecasts.“We just refer to that animal in Pennsylvania as ‘The Critter out East,’ the pair continue. “And, quite honestly, he has not been very good at predicting the weather.”

Niedzialek says he gets a lot of questions as to why Casimir eats a pierogi in making his flawless predictions.

“My only answer is he was rescued as a tiny kitten at Polish St. Casimir Church,” he explains, “so what is he supposed to eat, a taco?”

Casimir is certainly a bit spoiled, admits Niedzialek, who says he complains about working one day a year. But he does get excited knowing Mrs. T’s Pierogies will be waiting for him every Feb. 2.

Casimir was found abandoned as a kitten on the front steps of the historic St. Casimir Polish Church in the St. Clair-Superior neighborhood, at what many are now calling “Cleveland’s Miraculous Polish Church” after it reopened on July 15, 2012.

Casimir has predicted the spring weather accurately every year since he started participating in Groundhog Day back in 2014, says Niedzialek.

A volunteer at the church, Niedzialek is a weather enthusiast and a retired soil conservationist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He works part-time for the Lake County Soil and Water Conservation District and teaches earth science at Lakeland Community College.

Niedzialek mentions that he feels the need to let everyone know that in the Polish language “pierog” is a singular version of the word, while the typical English translation is “pierogi.” In any case, he says Casimir enjoys the food either way.