This year's unusually warm February brought early blooms of bulbs and the cherry blossoms were on their way to an early bloom as well. The peak prediction for the blossoms down on the Tidal Basin was originally set for March 14-17 and then, as the cold weather pushed in, that prediction was pushed back to March 19-22.
That second prediction still stands as of this morning on NPS' website but after the storm that brought on heavy icy rain and some snow over the last 48 hours, some of the local TV stations are reporting we may not even see a peak this year.
I suspect the park will share more news in the next day or two once the full damage is assessed. Today is forecast for the temperatures to be hovering around the freezing mark, but those wind gusts are expected to be strong. So not looking good. One news report this morning did leave a speck of optimism though, so keeping fingers crossed!
Either way, the annual Cherry Blossom Festival will carry on! It starts today and will run through April 16. For more information about the history of the festival and what there is to see and do, I invite you to visit my earlier posts:
Guide to the National Cherry Blossom Festival
Things to Do at the National Cherry Blossom Festival (even if peak doesn't fall during the time of the festival).
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for commenting! Your comment will be published soon (as long as you are not spamming or blatantly placing unrelated links). I appreciate your taking the time to view my page and leave a comment. Thanks for your patience.