DC cherry blossoms: Rain and freezing temperatures could hurt peak bloom
Amy DeLaura
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Washington — One and a half million people come from all over the world to Washington, D.C., to see the cherry blossoms’ fleeting beauty. With the rain and cold weather ahead, the question remains: Will they make it to peak bloom?
“Yeah, all of a sudden, it’s a concern,” Mike Litterst, the spokesperson for the National Mall, said. “We are in sort of a critical area right now.”
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A dreary day on the Tidal Basin didn’t stop the crowds of people already filtering into the district to see the seasonal staple. Peak bloom was predicted to arrive March 22-25 this year, but the inclement weather could prevent the buds from ever getting there. We met up with Litterst as the rain began to fall, and with more rain and freezing temperatures on the way, he said there was reason for worry.
”The concern is if we get temperatures 27 degrees or below, once the petals start to come out, that can create frost burn. That famously happened in 2017. We lost about half of the blossoms,” Litterst said, noting this weekend’s forecast is expecting those bloom-killing temperatures of 27 and 28 degrees. The blooms are currently at stages four through six, meaning the buds are starting to open.
“We’re going to keep a close eye on that. Hopefully we’ll get a bump of a degree or two on the Tidal Basin, and we won’t lose anything,” he said.
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Over the past 80 years, the Tidal Basin has seen an overall increase in temperature by about 2.5 degrees. Just a couple of degrees have made a huge difference, though, making the cherry blossom trees bloom on average about six days earlier than they did in the 1920s.
“There is a concern that the earlier you have peak bloom, the more likely there is that you’re going to have a late frost, which is what we’re looking at for this year,” Litterst said.
But it’s not just the weather these fragile beauties have to worry about.
“They are susceptible to the million and a half people that will be here over the next four weeks. So we ask people to help us be cherry blossom protectors,” the spokesman said. “Don’t climb the trees. Some of them are a lot older and a lot weaker than they look. Don’t break off the branches or take blossoms home, and when you can, stay on the sidewalks so that foot traffic doesn’t impact the root systems. Never a good idea to shake the trees.”
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For those blooms that do make it, Litterst says people should treat them well so that visitors will be able to enjoy them for generations to come.
“The old adage of ‘take only photographs, leave only footprints’ certainly applies to the cherry trees,” he said.