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.

Photo of Washington DC Cherry Blossoms.
Last Updated:

I MAY get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

UPDATE: The National Park Service has now announced their peak bloom prediction: March 14-17. I’ve put together an explanation of what this means.
UPDATE: The NPS has now updated their tracking, saying that the buds reached the florets visible stage of development today. That’s the second of the six stages in the blooming process that they track.
UPDATE: Because of the early bloom, the opening of the 2017 National Cherry Blossom Festival has been moved up to Wednesday, March 15 (originally March 20). It will still run through Sunday, April 16. In practical terms, this means that the Tidal Basin Welcome Area and ANA Performance Stage (both in the parking lot on the northeastern side of the Tidal Basin off Maine Ave SW) will open on March 15, earlier than originally planned. It also means that the Festival is looking for volunteers to help–if you’d like to help out, you can find details here.

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

It’s a dreary but warm start to the day. We could end up with a record maximum later today, along with the risk of some violent storms.

More flowers are out on the indicator tree, and a handful of different varieties of cherries are starting to join it with their first blossoms. Most of the trees are spread somewhere between the green buds and extension of florets stages.

Stay tuned for the National Park Service’s peak bloom prediction to be announced at a press conference later this morning. I’ll post an update when they announce it, and you can of course always find the latest predictions on the peak bloom page.

Yesterday, the Washington Post‘s Capital Weather Gang posted their peak bloom prediction of sometime between March 15 and 19. They have a good track record, and you can read their detailed rationale here.

It’ll be interesting to see what the folks at the NPS say. Based less on the weather forecast and mostly on looking at where the trees are right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if peak bloom actually ends up coming a little earlier than that. Many of the trees have already reached the florets visible and even extension of florets stages. The indicator tree is still a few warm days away from full bloom. But the key threshold is going to be 70 percent of the trees.

It’s perfectly normal to have trees in different stages—not every tree is on exactly the same schedule. But to my eye there also seems to be a wider spread than usual this year, with some trees much further ahead than others. So it’ll be interesting to see if we end up with a more drawn out blooming process than usual or whether they end up bunching up a bit more. In terms of peak bloom, the NPS arborists decide that the trees have reached that when 70 percent of the Yoshinos are in full bloom. It might be that we end up a slower build-up this year.

Temperatures So Far

February closed out nearly 9 degrees above average. It continues the pattern of much warmer than normal temperatures we’ve seen throughout the winter.

DecemberJanuaryFebruaryMarchPeak Bloom Date
2023-24+3.8+2.3+4.4+9.4March 17
2022-23-1.6+7.7+6.8+1.5ˤMarch 23
2021-22+5.9-2.9+2.6+5.0March 21
2020-21+1.7+2.6-1.2+4.2March 28
2019-20+2.4+6.4+4.8+7.3*March 20
2018-19+3.8+1.2+3.2+0.0April 1
2017-18-0.5-0.3+6.3-3.2April 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+4.0-0.4-8.7-1.5April 10
2013-14+2.6-3.8-1.2-3.9April 10
2012-13+5.9+4.3-0.7-3.0April 9
2011-12+4.9+4.7+5.3+10March 20
2010-11--1.3+3.6-0.9March 29
Data sources: National Weather Service / National Park Service.
ˤ = partial month, in progress
* = up until peak bloom

Photos from the Tidal Basin Today

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017
There are several varieties of cherry trees around the Tidal Basin and nearby. A handful of the others are just starting to show their first flowers.

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Indicator Tree

More flowers are out on the indicator tree, and you can now start to pick it out from a distance. There are still relatively few flowers on it, and it’s still a warm day or two from full bloom, but it’ll happen soon.

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

Washington DC Cherry Blossom Watch - March 1, 2017

You can find more on the indicator tree here.