Cherry Blossom Watch Update: March 1, 2022

The Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang predicts peak bloom around March 24. The National Park Service will announce their prediction later this morning.

Photo of Washington DC Cherry Blossoms - March 1, 2022 taken by David Coleman.

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The cherry blossoms reached peak bloom on March 17, 2024. That's the second-earliest on record.

RELATED:
Latest Updates on the 2024 Bloom
Peak Bloom Forecasts in Detail

The Washington Post‘s Capital Weather Gang have announced their initial peak bloom prediction for 2022. They predict a peak bloom around March 24, “or within a five-day window of March 22 and 26.” That’s about a week earlier than the average over the past few decades. They point particularly to the mild February–about 2.5 degrees warmer than normal–and especially warm temperatures last week (if your pollen allergies seemed to kick in last week, it wasn’t your imagination–apparently the warm temperatures prompted the trees to release abnormally high levels of pollen for this time of year). You can find more detail on their rationale here.

The National Park Service will be announcing their initial prediction later this morning. So stay tuned!

Around the Tidal Basin, there’s still not much to see just yet. Some of the trees have green buds starting to poke through, but most of the trees aren’t quite there yet.

How It Looks at the Tidal Basin This Morning

Here are some shots I took at the Tidal Basin to give a sense of how it looks this morning.

Photo of Washington DC Cherry Blossoms - March 1, 2022 taken by David Coleman.
Photo of Washington DC Cherry Blossoms - March 1, 2022 taken by David Coleman.
Green buds starting to poke through.
Photo of Washington DC Cherry Blossoms - March 1, 2022 taken by David Coleman.
Photo of Washington DC Cherry Blossoms - March 1, 2022 taken by David Coleman.
Photo of Washington DC Cherry Blossoms - March 1, 2022 taken by David Coleman.
Photo of Washington DC Cherry Blossoms - March 1, 2022 taken by David Coleman.
Photo of Washington DC Cherry Blossoms - March 1, 2022 taken by David Coleman.
Photo of Washington DC Cherry Blossoms - March 1, 2022 taken by David Coleman.
Photo of Washington DC Cherry Blossoms - March 1, 2022 taken by David Coleman.

Discussion

    • I can’t speak for the National Park Service, but it seems likely that there’ll be considerably fewer restrictions than the past couple of years. There is no sign of any fencing going up yet, and with mask requirements easing in DC, I’m not sure that they would decide to take on the hassle and expense of fencing off the area again.

      UPDATE: Having just watched the Festival’s press conference, which included NPS representatives, the message was very clear that DC is open for business again that visitors are being encouraged to visit. Which further suggests moving away from any fencing, etc.

      Reply

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