Last week’s unseasonably warm weather helped D.C.’s cherry blossoms reach peak bloom ahead of schedule, the second-earliest peak bloom on record. Now, a burst of cooler temperatures will also help the famous flowers to last longer.
“This really is absolutely the ideal conditions you would ask for once you get to peak bloom,” said National Park Service spokesman Mike Litterst.
Warm weather speeds up the bloom cycle, and the arrival of cooler temperatures in D.C. will help the blossoms stick around, Litterst said.
“Those blossoms are eventually going to be replaced by leaves, and that would happen much quicker if the warm temperatures had stayed,” he told WTOP. “Now that the temperatures have dropped a bit and cooled off, we’ll see the blossoms on for a little bit longer before they’re replaced by leaves.”
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Peak bloom typically lasts for seven to 10 days, but Litterst said that could stretch to two weeks this year.
“We’re not going to have wind. We have a little bit of rain, but not much. No severe weather that’s going to bring the petals down early,” he said. “Could be by the end of next week, we’re still seeing blossoms.”
If you’d like to see the cherry blossom trees in person, Litterst recommends coming around 10 or 11 a.m. on a weekday morning for better parking and smaller crowds.