Cherry Blossom Peak Bloom Pushed to March 19-22

Joelle Fredman
WMAL.com

WASHINGTON — (WMAL) The National Parks Service has pushed its projections for the cherry blossom peak bloom to March 19-22 due to cold weather.

“Those cold temperatures are going to really retard the blossoming process,” National Parks Service spokesman Mike Litterst said.

BLOOM WATCH UPDATE – Due to colder than avg forecast temps this weekend, the cherry blossom peak bloom is now projected for March 19-22.

— National Mall NPS (@NationalMallNPS) March 8, 2017

The former prediction was March 14-17.

Litterst said that if the flowers begin to blossom and another wave of freezing temperatures hit, they could be killed off completely.

“If we get any further along, if the flowers actually start to come out, and then we get a hard frost, anything 27 degrees or below, [it] could actually kill off the blooms before they emerge completely,” Litterst said.