Washington, D.C., cherry blossoms close in on peak bloom
The cherry trees reached stage five out of six yesterday, the National Park Service announced Sunday.
The final weekend of March is when Washington, D.C.’s iconic cherry trees will be in full bloom, but that’s not the only city with a cherry blossom festival.
Cherry blossoms around Washington, D.C., are starting to show. The world-famous blossoms are now in their "puffy white" phase, according to the National Park Service, and peak bloom is next.
The cherry trees reached stage five out of six on Saturday, the National Park Service announced Sunday.
"We're thrilled to announce that the cherry trees have reached stage 5 - puffy white. The blossoms are starting to show, now we're just waiting on them to open. Peak bloom is next!" NPS posted on X.
Sporadic warmer weather is slowly beginning to thaw out parts of the mid-Atlantic, including in Washington, D.C., where the famous cherry blossoms associated with the arrival of spring are beginning to bud.
Earlier this month, The National Park Service announced it expected the peak of the blossoms to begin between March 28 and March 31 this year, so the buds are right on schedule. Peak bloom, when 70% of the blossoms have opened, typically occurs between the last week of March and the first week of April and can last up to 10 days, according to the NPS. However, extreme temperatures have pushed peak bloom as early as March 15 (1990) and as late as April 18 (1958).
Last year, the blossoms peaked on March 17. It was so early, the famous festival hadn't even started.
"The blossoms are starting to show," the NPS said on Sunday, March 23. (Photo credit: National Park Service).
The timing of the blossoms and wintry conditions is key to the survival of the early bloomers, as the flowers are particularly susceptible to wintry weather during their later phases.
Winter has decimated the bloom before, the most recent case occurring in 2017 when a late frost from March 14-16 wiped out at least half of the Yoshino blossoms. The general blossom population had reached the fourth stage, the peduncle elongation stage, and the point at which the flowers become susceptible to the cold and frost, on March 8. That year, the general number of blossoms had reached the green bud stage on Feb. 24.
According to data from the National Park Service, the blossoms usually reach the fourth phase of the blooming process in mid- to late March, with the average peak bloom date landing around April 4.
From 2004 to 2022, the blossoms reached peak bloom before April 4 in 14 of the 19 years, according to data collected by the NPS, with the EPA noting that peak bloom dates have shifted earlier by about seven days since 1921.
Every spring, people from all over the world travel to Washington, D.C., to witness the breathtaking spectacle of the cherry blossoms in full bloom. The annual event transforms the nation's capital into a vibrant canvas of delicate pink and white petals, attracting tourists, nature enthusiasts and photographers alike.
The National Cherry Blossom Festival runs from March 20 to April 14.
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