Washington DC's iconic cherry blossoms are arriving early after a warm winter, coinciding with the second-earliest blooming period in over 100 years of record keeping.
“Peak bloom! Peak Bloom! Peak Bloom! Did you say PEAK BLOOM?!” The National Park Service announced the delicate bloom on Sunday.
“The cherry blossoms are falling!” the park service said. “Colorful clouds of white and pink flowers surround the tidal basin, creating a gorgeous spring scene. Come and enjoy the beauty.”
More than 1.5 million people descend on the Tidal Basin, a reservoir between the National Mall and the Potomac River, to see hundreds of trees in full bloom each spring, usually around the end of March. You will walk among Japanese flower trees.
The park service originally estimated Washington's cherry blossoms would bloom on March 23. But after an unusually warm winter, the trees bloomed early. In case the Park Service's statement wasn't clear enough.
To be exact, about a week early.
According to the Park Service, the flowers usually bloom between the last week of March and the first week of April. The flowering period is defined as the moment when 70% of the flowers on a tree are in full bloom.
But nature can ruin the predictability of developments.
The timeline has changed over the years due to warmer-than-normal or cooler-than-normal temperatures. The earliest full bloom since records began in 1921 was in 1990, when it occurred on March 15.
Northeast winds blew March 21 after more than 14 inches of snow fell in the Washington area, according to National Weather Service figures.
Meteorological data showed that temperatures were above average during the first three months of the year, which led to early flowering, which coincided with the second-earliest peak flowering recorded on March 17, 2000.
But this is the fastest the flower has ever passed the five stages of its bloom cycle, and warmer climates were a factor, park service spokesman Mike Litterst said in an interview Monday.
“The warmer it is, the quicker the trees will bloom,” he said.
The Park Service predicts that the blooms will mark the so-called flowering season as horticulturists record signs of buds and florets growing, emerging and spreading. The Trust for the National Mall has installed “bloom cams” that monitor trees and capture visitors strolling slowly along sunny walkways beneath flowering branches.
Close examination is not surprising, considering the narrow window through which visitors can experience the flowers in full bloom. Trees typically bloom for a few days, but if the weather is cool, the flowering period may be longer. Temporary blooms may end abruptly on rainy or windy days.
Late frosts can prevent trees from blooming at all, the park service said.
On social media, where cherry blossoms are popular, visitors exchanged hopes that they would make it to Washington on time because the peak arrived earlier than expected on March 23.
The Park Service announced last week that about 140 cherry trees will be cut down starting in May to prepare for construction of a taller seawall to protect the area around the Jefferson Memorial. Around the Tidal Basin and adjacent West Potomac Park are home to 3,800 cherry trees.