Peak DC Cherry Blossom Dates Released By Officials

WASHINGTON, DC — Start making viewing plans, cherry tree experts predicting peak blooms in D.C. between March 22 and 25. The National Park Service announced its prediction Wednesday.

Warm winter temperatures mean the famed cherry trees will bloom earlier than average. Peak bloom is defined as the day when 70 percent of the cherry blossoms are open.

The NPS said on Feb. 23 the indicator tree had already started budding, which could mean cherry blossom season will come early.

This year’s likely peak bloom date is about two weeks ahead of the average peak date of April 4, WTOP reported.

“Spring is a beautiful and exciting time in DC, and we love to welcome visitors to our city for the National Cherry Blossom Festival,” said D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser in a statement. “And when people come for the Cherry Blossom Festival, we want them to stay and experience DC – our restaurants, our free museums, our theaters and sports, and our beautiful neighborhoods across all eight wards that are also filled with cherry blossoms. There’s so much to do and see, so help us spread the word about spring in DC.”

To embrace the full blooming period, the National Cherry Blossom Festival dates have been extended from March 18 to April 16.

“The National Park Service is proud to be the stewards of the Japanese cherry trees, whose blossoms each year mark the return of spring to the nation’s capital,” said Jeff Reinbold, superintendent of National Mall and Memorial Parks, in a news release. “We invite visitors from around the corner and around the globe to enjoy Washington’s grandest springtime tradition at the Tidal Basin, and to help us care for the trees by taking the pledge to become a Cherry Blossom Protector.”

The National Park Service will once again co-host the Tidal Basin Welcome Area and ANA Stage during the 2023 Festival, where more than 150 free live performances and educational events will take place March 18-April (rain or shine).

Experts said this year could be a record-breaking early bloom, as temperatures soared way above average for February, CNN reported.

The earliest peak bloom on record was March 15, 1990. Michael Litterst, communications chief for National Mall and Memorial Parks with the National Park Service, told CNN he believes a mid-March peak bloom date is “certainly in play this year.”

“All indications are it’s going to be earlier than average,” Litterst told CNN. Last year’s peak bloom was March 25. “We’re about a month out from that, but given what we’ve seen so far, and given what the forecast is, I think we’re probably looking at something earlier than that.”

In addition, on March 20, the Frederick Douglas Memorial Bridge will light up pink for its second year in honor of the festival.

Here are the six cherry blossom stages NPS tracks:

1. Green bud
2. Florets visible
3. Extension of florets
4. Peduncle elongation
5. Puffy blossom
6. Peak bloom

Litterst told WJLA this is the fourth-earliest stage one noted since 1992, when record-keeping began for the appearance of blossoms. The earliest the trees have entered stage one was on Feb. 13, 1998. The cherry blossoms did not hit peak bloom until March 27 that year.

“We are certainly seeing a correlation between rise of average temperatures and earlier blossoming of the cherry blossoms,” Litterst told WJLA.

The leading destination for virtual “bloom watchers,” Bloom Watch is the go-to source for official updates about peak bloom, with details about the bloom stages and a link to National Park Service’s #BloomCam.

View the Bloomcam to monitor the state of blossoms at the Tidal Basin this spring.