Welcome to the 2019 Cherry Blossom Watch!
It’s still too early when the bloom will be this year, and no predictions have been issued yet. The National Park Service and Washington Post forecasts typically come around the beginning of March.
It’s still very early, and there’s plenty of time for things to change, but so far winter temperatures have been above normal. December averaged nearly 4 degrees above normal, and a warm start to this morning has helped January so far to be tracking about 6 degrees above normal. Looking ahead a week or two, the National Weather Service is predicting things to cool down quite a bit. For a bit more context, here are how temperatures tracked relative to peak bloom for the past several years:
December | January | February | March | Peak Bloom Date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2023-24 | +3.8 | +2.3 | +4.4 | +9.4 | March 17 |
2022-23 | -1.6 | +7.7 | +6.8 | +1.5ˤ | March 23 |
2021-22 | +5.9 | -2.9 | +2.6 | +5.0 | March 21 |
2020-21 | +1.7 | +2.6 | -1.2 | +4.2 | March 28 |
2019-20 | +2.4 | +6.4 | +4.8 | +7.3* | March 20 |
2018-19 | +3.8 | +1.2 | +3.2 | +0.0 | April 1 |
2017-18 | -0.5 | -0.3 | +6.3 | -3.2 | April 5 |
2016-17 | +2.1 | +6.1 | +8.7 | -0.7* | March 25 |
2015-16 | +11.5 | -1.1 | +0.9 | +6.5* | March 25 |
2014-15 | +4.0 | -0.4 | -8.7 | -1.5 | April 10 |
2013-14 | +2.6 | -3.8 | -1.2 | -3.9 | April 10 |
2012-13 | +5.9 | +4.3 | -0.7 | -3.0 | April 9 |
2011-12 | +4.9 | +4.7 | +5.3 | +10 | March 20 |
2010-11 | - | -1.3 | +3.6 | -0.9 | March 29 |
ˤ = partial month, in progress
* = up until peak bloom
Over the past few days winter finally arrived with the first big snowstorm of the season (although we did have an inch or two of snow back in November, too). The photos on this page were taken yesterday after it had been snowing pretty steadily since the previous evening. By the time the snow finished about 8-10 hours later, the measurement station at DCA, the airport right across the Potomac about a mile from the Tidal Basin had measured 10.3 inches. Areas just slightly north had measured up to 12 inches.
There’s not going to be much to report for a while, but I’ll be checking in from the Tidal Basin from time to time in the coming weeks. And if there’s anything new to report, I’ll post an update. In the meantime, though, we’ll have to see how the rest of the winter plays out. And, as always, I keep the peak bloom forecasts page updated with the latest predictions. So stay tuned!
How It Looks
These were all taken yesterday (January 13).
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