The District鈥檚 cherry blossoms officially hit peak bloom on Sunday, the , formerly Twitter, late that afternoon. It鈥檚 the second-earliest date for peak bloom , and it started nearly a week ahead of the window NPS initially predicted in late February.
Fortunately, this week鈥檚 cooler weather may allow the blossoms to stick around a little longer than usual, according to Mike Litterst, NPS spokesperson for the National Mall and Memorial Parks.
鈥淚n the average year, we’ll get seven to 10 days out of the blossoms,鈥 Litterst said. 鈥淲e get a run at cool temperatures here, maybe we get 10 days to two weeks.鈥
The upcoming cool snap follows weeks of unseasonably gorgeous warm weather, which is what caused the flowers to hit their peak so early. Those warm spring weeks are becoming more common as the whole planet gets hotter because of fossil fuel gasses trapping heat in the atmosphere. found that D.C.鈥檚 springs have gotten about 2 degrees warmer since 1970, and the city now experiences about 10 more 鈥渨armer than normal鈥 days during March, April and May.
Since record-keeping began in 1921, peak bloom has only come earlier than this once (March 15, 1990) and tied with this year once (in 2000). On average, the Tidal Basin trees hit their peak about six days earlier now than they did in the early 20th century, Litterst said.
At the end of February, the 老澳门开奖网 Post鈥檚 an earlier peak bloom than NPS had forecasted. But even the Post鈥檚 meteorologists had put the odds of a peak bloom before March 19 at just 15%.
While the upcoming chilly temperatures can help prolong peak bloom, an unexpected hard freeze 鈥 below 28 degrees 鈥 could cause the flowers to wilt.
鈥淵ou really can’t accurately predict temperatures much more than 10 days out, so there is always a certain degree of guesswork,鈥 Litterst said.
Last Year for Some of the Cherry Trees
Despite the new chill in the air, hundreds of sightseers wandered around the Tidal Basin Monday evening. Much of the crowd came from afar, but Phil Montague said he lives just a 25-minute metro ride away in Maryland.
Montague has visited during peak bloom every year for a decade, but he said this year felt particularly important because it鈥檚 the last spring before NPS begins repair work on the crumbling sea wall on the south side of the Tidal Basin. The project will require the removal of about 150 of the Tidal Basin area鈥檚 1700 cherry trees, including the fans have named Stumpy.
鈥淚 wanted to come out and take photos today, before the Park Service starts doing all this construction,鈥 Montague said. 鈥淚t’s the last chance to get some of these [pictures].鈥
The sea wall was originally built in the late 1800s, and Litterst said it has since settled by about five feet in some places. On top of that, he said sea level rise driven by climate change has increased the water level by another foot.
Parts of the sidewalk around the Tidal Basin now flood twice daily, during high tide. That can be devastating for trees whose roots run close to the waterline. According to NPS, the sea wall restoration project will protect the area for the next 100 years.
Site preparation 鈥 including tree removal 鈥 is slated to begin in May, and NPS expects to complete the restoration in 2027. After the work is done, 274 new cherry trees.聽
鈥淪tumpy is this fantastic tale of resilience, but鈥 we’ve got a 100 [to] 150-yard length of the Tidal Basin next to the Jefferson Memorial [that] has absolutely no trees on it because of the water levels essentially killing them from the roots,鈥 Litterst said. 鈥淎nd we can’t replace any of those trees until we fix the underlying cause.鈥