Contributed by Amaya Starkey
D.C.’s cherry blossoms have started to flower and the expected peak bloom dates have now been pushed up, according to NBC Washington.
The National Park Service said this Tuesday that the peak bloom is now expected from Thursday through Sunday.
This year, the blossoms have actually had their peak bloom times postponed twice due to consistently cold weather. The original dates projected this year was actually March 17-20.
The NPS claimed that the 20 percent of the Yoshino cherry trees were at full blossom. Peak blossom is considered when there is at least 70 percent of the Yoshino trees surrounding the Tidal Basin are blossoming.
After they reach full bloom, the blossoms can stay on the trees from four to 10 days. However, this year’s projections seem to be different. The NPS recently tweeted, “Keeping an eye on gusty winds tomorrow, the enemy of the blossoms!”
The bloom period has begun, meaning 20% of the Yoshino trees are at full blossom. Peak bloom, occurring when that figure reaches 70%, now projected for April 5-8, thanks to last weekend's warm temps. Keeping an eye on gusty winds tomorrow, enemy of the blossoms! #CherryBlossomDC pic.twitter.com/huB8QcOaoQ
— National Mall NPS (@NationalMallNPS) April 3, 2018
Temperatures should be not getting below a cool point that could possibly imperil the blossoms, but the wind has the possibility of blowing some of them away.
The only danger is to blossoms that are far into the blooming cycle.
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