Washington’s cherry blossoms are reaching near-record early blooms
Washington, D.C.’s signature cherry blossoms have arrived early after a warm winter, marking the second-earliest peak bloom in more than a century of recording.
“PEAK FLOWER! PEAK FLOWER! PEAK FLOWER! Did we say PEAK FLOWER?!” the National Park Service announced on Sundayheralding the arrival of the delicate bloom.
“The cherry blossoms are popping!” according to the Park Service. “Beautiful clouds of white and pink blossoms surround the tidal basin, creating a beautiful spring spectacle. Come enjoy the beauty.”
More than 1.5 million people descend each spring on the Tidal Basin, a reservoir wedged between the National Mall and the Potomac River, to wander among the hundreds of Japanese flowering trees as they burst into color, usually around late March.
The Park Service originally estimated that Washington’s cherry blossoms would be in full bloom on March 23. But after an unusually warm winter, the trees reached peak bloom — in case the Park Service’s statement wasn’t clear enough — early.
About a week early, to be exact.
According to the Park Service, the flowers usually burst between the last week of March and the first week of April. Peak bloom is defined as the time when 70 percent of the blossoms on the trees open.
But nature can disrupt the predictability of development.
Temperatures that are warmer than normal or cooler than normal have shifted the timeline over the years. The earliest peak bloom since 1921, when record keeping began, was in 1990, when the bloom arrived on March 15.
The peak bloom did not occur until April 18, 1958, two months after more than a foot of snow fell in the Washington area, followed by a nor’easter on March 21. This is evident from figures from the National Weather Service.
Temperatures were above average during the first three months of this year, show meteorological datawhich produced an early bloom that matched the second earliest recorded peak bloom, on March 17, 2000.
But this is the fastest way the blossoms have gone through the five stages of the bloom cycle, and a warming climate has been a factor, Mike Litterst, a spokesman for the Park Service, said in an interview Monday.
“The warmer it is, the faster the trees will bloom,” he said.
The Park Service predicts that the big blossom will reveal its so-called bloom watch, as horticulturists record signs of buds and florets as they develop, emerge and spread. The Trust for the National Mall has a “bloom cam‘ that keeps an eye on the trees and picks up the slow stroll of visitors along the sunlit walkways under the flower-laden branches.
The research is hardly surprising given the narrow window where visitors can experience the flowers in their full glory. The trees typically bloom for several days, but cool weather can extend blooming. Rainy or windy days can put an abrupt end to the short-lived blossoms.
A late frost can cause the trees to not bloom at all, according to the Park Service.
On social media, where the cherry blossoms are a popular featurewould be visitors exchanged their hopes to get to Washington on time, now that the peak had come earlier than the March 23 projection.
The Park Service announced last week that about 140 of the cherry trees will be cut down beginning in May in preparation for construction of taller seawalls to protect the area around the Jefferson Memorial. There are 3,800 cherry trees around the Tidal Basin and in adjacent West Potomac Park.