A cold winter wasn’t enough to hold back an early arrival of D.C.’s famed cherry blossoms. On Thursday, the blossoms at the Tidal Basin reached peak bloom earlier than normal for the seventh year in a row.
Propelled by March temperatures running about 5 degrees above normal, the March 26 bloom date ranks among the top 20 earliest in more than a century of records.
The Park Service defines peak bloom as the point when 70 percent of the Yoshino cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin are open.
The seventh straight earlier-than-normal bloom is part of a longer-term trend toward earlier peaks driven by human-caused climate change. As March temperatures have warmed over the past century, the average peak bloom date has shifted about a week earlier, from April 4 to March 29.
Last year’s peak occurred March 28.
Expectations had been that the coldest winter in more than 20 years would delay the blossoms until late March or even early April.
Indeed, the buds didn’t reach the first of six bloom stages — green buds — until March 11, later than average. But a stretch of frequent warm days quickly accelerated development, compressing the bloom cycle into 15 days, among the shortest on record.
Kevin Leonard, a botanical garden photographer, visited from Baltimore on Wednesday to beat the crowds that he expects will flock downtown this weekend.
He stops by the Tidal Basin each year to capture the blooms welcoming spring.
“I’m always here,” he said while taking pictures of the trees with the Washington Monument in the background. “It’s worth the trip.”
Though he has photographed foliage everywhere from Ghana to Philadelphia, Leonard said the monuments around the National Mall set the District’s cherry blossoms apart and create interesting compositions.
A group of students from Manchester High School in Midlothian, Virginia, packed onto a bus Wednesday morning and made the two-hour trip to see the trees around the Tidal Basin. Their class has come to D.C. for the past three years, but rainy weather has previously derailed plans and sent students wandering museums instead of enjoying the pink flowering blooms up close.
This year, with clear skies and a slight breeze, the students got their first look at the District’s iconic blossoms. Senior Abbie Wallace said the trees give people a chance to experience the beauty of another country without having to travel too far.
Another senior, Ester Lara, called it a “sign of peace,” citing the connection between Japan and the United States that the trees represent.
“We don’t see a lot of that happen right now because of what’s happening in the world,” Lara said.
Cherry blossom trees typically remain in peak bloom for three to seven days. Cool, cloudy and calm conditions tend to preserve the blossoms, while heat, wind and rain can shorten their lifespan by knocking petals from the trees.
A cold front arriving Friday will bring rain and breezy conditions, but the blossoms — still relatively fresh — should hold up well. They should be in excellent form this weekend, although it will feel more like winter Saturday, with highs struggling to reach 50.
Warmer, breezy weather returns by early next week, which should begin to strip petals and bring the peak bloom period to an end — likely within about a week.
This year’s peak bloom falls three days ahead of the Park Service’s predicted window and roughly a week earlier than the Capital Weather Gang’s forecast. The difference largely reflects warmer-than-expected conditions this month, especially in the second half.
This year’s bloom arrived during the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which runs through April 12.
On the grass behind the Washington Monument on Wednesday, Janine Griggs and her husband, Mike Schwartz, smooshed together for a selfie under the blossoming trees just before peak bloom.
Blanketed in shade under a towering Yoshino tree, Griggs basked in a connection to her family. Griggs’s parents met and fell in love in Japan, even having their wedding in Nagoya.
Earlier this week, Griggs interred her mother at Arlington National Cemetery, where Griggs’s father was buried in 1997.
“My mom loved nature. She loved trees, so it really does kind of feel like a gift from her,” Griggs said. Griggs and Schwartz flew from Seattle to D.C. for the interment ceremony, but said the timing of the cherry blossoms felt kismet.
Griggs said she worried the harsh weather of late would delay the blossoms opening; she was thankful it worked out.
The post D.C. cherry blossoms burst into peak bloom, earlier than normal yet again appeared first on Washington Post.
