Cherry Blossom Watch Update / Kwanzan Edition: April 9, 2017
The Kwanzan cherry blossoms are coming into full bloom now and looking lovely.
2017 Cherry Blossom Watch
It was a bumpy ride up to the 2017 cherry blossom bloom. A warmer than normal winter led into a very warm February. That brought the cherry blossoms to the verge of blooming around mid-March. It was even shaping up to be possibly the earliest on record.
Then an arctic blast hit. It slowed the development to a crawl and caused widespread damage to many of the blossoms because it came right when many were just on the verge of blooming and at their most vulnerable.
The NPS judged that about half the blossoms survived. The surviving blossoms reached peak bloom on March 25. Given the extent of the damage from the cold, it was a somewhat more subdued and reduced bloom than the kind of full-throated, dramatic bloom for which DC's cherry blossoms are famous, but it still made for an impressive spectacle.
Here are the archived updates for the 2017 edition of the DC Cherry Blossom Watch.
Reader Photos 2017 | Part 3
This is the final installment of reader photos for this year. Thanks to all who shared their beautiful photos!
Reader Photos 2017 | Part 2
This is part 2 of the reader photos for the 2017 bloom.
Reader Photos 2017 | Part 1
Here are some great photos of 2017’s bloom of the cherry blossoms that were submitted by Cherry Blossom Watch readers. This is part 1.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: April 4, 2017
The cherry blossoms are on their last legs now, but there are still some holdouts with plenty of flowers.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: March 31, 2017
The cherry blossoms are past their prime now and well on their way out. The persistent rain is knocking a lot of petals off, but there are still plenty of petals left on the trees.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: March 29, 2017
They’re still going strong, and with the sun finally coming out it’s a gorgeous spring day at the Tidal Basin.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: March 28, 2017
Now that we’re at three days after the peak bloom day, the cherry blossoms are turning pink and still looking great, but they’re also becoming fragile. The rain is knocking petals off and blanketing the ground with cherry blossom snow.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: March 26, 2017
The cherry blossoms reached peak bloom yesterday. As expected, the bloom this year is a little more subdued than usual simply because it’s firing with only half its usual firepower. Despite that, though, they’re putting on a beautiful show. Over the next few days the blossoms will gradually go from white to a pale pink.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update / Kwanzan Edition: March 26, 2017
The Kwanzans are now showing green buds, the first of the visible development stages. Warm weather over coming weeks will wake them up and speed things up a bit.
NPS Says that DC’s Cherry Blossoms Reached Peak Bloom Today: March 25
The NPS said this afternoon that the cherry blossoms reached peak bloom today, March 25. Peak bloom is when at least 70 percent of the blossoms are open.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: March 25, 2017
They’re looking great this morning, and they’ll look even better as the weekend warms up and coaxes even more blossoms out.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: March 24, 2017
They’re looking good now and will look better and better each day through at least the weekend.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: March 23, 2017
Some of them are blooming fully now. Most of them need a kick of warmth for them to catch up.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: March 22, 2017
They’re not yet in full bloom, but they’ve taken a big step in that direction in the past 24 hours. Once we get through freezing temperatures tonight, things are shaping up beautifully for the weekend.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: March 21, 2017
The cherry blossoms are finally coming out to play, and it looks like it’s shaping up to look better than the numbers suggest.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: March 20, 2017
It’s a beautiful morning to kick off spring, and more cherry blossoms are starting to come out as they head toward fully blooming later this week.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: March 19, 2017
The cherry blossoms are gearing up for another attempt at the bloom. There are flowers starting to come out, but they’re scattered for now.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: March 18, 2017
No new photos today, but some useful information came in late yesterday about the NPS’s take on where things stand.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: March 17, 2017
That should be the last of the very cold nights, at least for a while. Things are now warming up a little. So we’re back in business.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: March 16, 2017
Where there should be white and pink there’s now a lot of brown. Many of the ones that were in the late stages right before fully blooming have been damaged badly. But it’s by no means all of them.
Cherry Blossom Watch / Kwanzan Edition: March 16, 2017
The Kwanzan cherry blossoms are much earlier in their development and look to be riding out the cold snap comfortably.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: March 15, 2017
They’re taking a beating now and damage is becoming more widespread. While there’s still a good number soldiering on, it’s not clear how many have sustained internal damage that’s not visible or how many will be able to ride out the next two cold nights.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: March 14, 2017
The cherry blossoms don’t seem to be able to catch a break. As if freezing temperatures weren’t enough to deal with, they’re now encased in ice.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: March 13, 2017
Not much change since yesterday. Another cold night. Some of the blossoms are clearly struggling and succumbing to the freezing temperatures, but overall I’m impressed with how well most of them seem to be holding up so far.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: March 12, 2017
It’s still cold, with much more to come. While most of the cherry blossoms are still hanging in there, more of them seem to be struggling.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: March 11, 2017
So far, so good. There’s not a lot of visual evidence of damage from the cold temperatures yet, but it’s early days–there’s a lot more to come. In terms of flowers, there’s basically the same amount out today as yesterday.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: March 10, 2017
Many of the trees are a few warm days away from full bloom. But we’re not going to be getting warm days anytime soon. Instead, we’ll see several days of cold winter weather. That’s going to slow things down. It also has the potential to do some real damage.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: March 9, 2017
As expected, the warm weather yesterday coaxed a few more flowers out. It’s still not many, but more trees have a few flowers starting to show. The warm weather today will coax some more out. It’s nothing like full bloom yet–it’s still very few flowers in the context of the whole–but if you go hunting you can at least find some blossoms out.
NPS Revises Peak Bloom Forecast: Now March 19-22
Late this afternoon the NPS revised their peak bloom prediction. Colder than expected temperatures forecast for the next week have pushed the dates back.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: March 8, 2017
A few more trees have started popping their first flowers, although it’s still only very few in terms of the total number of trees around the Tidal Basin. A few warms days should coax more out before an arctic blast hits on the weekend to stir things up.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: March 7, 2017
The cool weather of the past few days brought things to a crawl, but now that we’re entering a warmer stretch the pace should start picking up again. It looks like we might see a drawn-out bloom this year.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: March 6, 2017
After a chilly weekend, there’s not much change in the trees. A small handful of trees are still flowering, while the others are in a wide spread of development stages.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: March 3, 2017
A small handful of trees are starting to flower, but most of them still have some work to do. But the saucer magnolias are looking wonderful.
National Park Service has Announced Their First Peak Bloom Prediction for 2017
The experts at the National Park Service have announced their peak bloom prediction for 2017: between March 14 and 17.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: March 1, 2017
More flowers are out on the indicator tree, and a handful of different varieties of cherries are starting to join it with their first flowers. Most of the trees range somewhere between the green buds and extensions of florets stages.
Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang Have Posted their First Peak Bloom Prediction for 2017
The Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang has issued their first peak bloom prediction for 2017: sometime between March 15 and 19.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: February 28, 2017
There’s going to be a flurry of activity over the coming days, with new peak bloom predictions and the trees racing towards the bloom.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: February 27, 2017
There’s been noticeable development on many of the trees, and the first flowers are even starting to pop on the indicator tree.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: February 24, 2017
It’s still warm, warm, warm. And most of the trees now have green buds coming through.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: February 20, 2017
It certainly feels like spring, with warm temperatures and clear skies. And it’s starting to look like spring too, with the first daffodils starting to come out and the first green buds appearing on the cherry trees around the Tidal Basin.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: February 13, 2017
It’s sunny and windy. The warmer than normal temperatures we’re still seeing–and expect to see for a while yet–continue to tilt the odds in favor of an earlier bloom. And there’s an early spring treat just across the road from the Tidal Basin.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: February 6, 2017
It feels like spring today, with blue skies, warm sun, and still conditions. And it continues the trend of above-average temperatures we’ve seen through this winter.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: January 30, 2017
We had a little snow last night. Just enough to be pretty without causing any headaches. But with January closing out it’ll end up being warmer than normal for the month. That’s on the back of a December where average temperatures were also above normal.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: January 21, 2017
There’s not much new to report since the last update, although temperatures have remained warmer than normal, and it looks like we’ll close out January with temperatures above average for the month.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: January 16, 2017
There’s not much to see yet, and it’s been a fairly unremarkable winter, but we’re now starting to head into the period where things start to take shape.
Cherry Blossoms in November?
Yes, it happens, even as the leaves are turning reddish-brown and falling off. There are several autumn-blooming cherry trees around the National Mall.
Cherry Blossom Watch Update: Fall 2016 Edition
The cherry trees around the Tidal Basin are also looking very colorful at the moment, but not in the way they’re best known for. Many of the leaves are turning an orange or reddish brown, making for quite a pretty sight all the way around the water’s edge.