Washington DC's iconic cherry blossoms are days away from peak bloom

The cherry blossoms that line the iconic Washington, D.C., waterfront are days away from reaching peak bloom, according to the National Park Service.

The blossoms surrounding D.C.'s Tidal Basin are currently at Stage 5, or "Puffy White," the NPS said. The buds are beginning to flower and are expected to open up within the coming days to form a sweeping panorama of pink blooms along the nation's capital.

Peak bloom in Washington, D.C., typically occurs between the last week of March and the first week of April, according to the National Park Service's Bloom Watch, which tracks when the blooms are expected to occur. Peak bloom is defined as the day when 70% of the Yoshino Cherry blossoms are open, and it typically lasts for a period of several days, according to the NPS. More than 3,000 cherry trees were gifted to the U.S. from Japan in 1912 as a symbol of friendship.

The NPS predicts this year's peak bloom to occur between Friday and March 31. This is expected to be the sixth year in a row with a March peak bloom date.

Climate change, shifting seasons are impacting cherry blossom blooms

Extreme warm or cool temperatures have caused the D.C. blooms to occur as early as March 15 and as late as April 18, the NPS said. In 2024, peak bloom occurred on March 17 -- the second-earliest peak bloom on record -- due to warmer-than-usual temperatures.

In recent years, the peak bloom date for the cherry trees at the Tidal Basin reservoir is occurring earlier than it did in the past. Seasonal shifts, including milder, shorter winter seasons and spring warmth beginning earlier due to human-amplified climate change, are impacting when the cherry trees reach peak bloom, data shows.

Peak bloom dates have shifted earlier by about eight days since 1921, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. New calculations, which now include data through 2024, show that the average peak bloom date for D.C.'s cherry blossoms has shifted a day earlier, moving from April 4 to April 3. The peak bloom date has occurred before the new April 3 average in 15 of the last 20 years. Peak bloom has occurred as early as March 15 (1990) and as late as April 18 (1958), according to the NPS.

Global warming has also caused cherry blossoms to bloom earlier in other iconic viewing locations, such as New York City's Central Park and Kyoto, Japan.

Human-amplified climate change is causing seasonal shifts, including milder, shorter winter seasons and spring warmth beginning earlier, according to the Fifth National Climate Assessment, a breakdown of the latest in climate science from 14 different federal agencies, published in November 2023. These shifts are contributing to the long-term change in peak bloom dates.

These shifts do not just impact the cherry trees and their iconic blooms, but can create a ripple effect across entire ecosystems, influencing the delicate ways that plants and wildlife interact with one another.

For example, there can be cases when plants are blooming earlier but pollinators, such as bees, have not quite emerged yet. Alternatively, early warmth could have bees out early and searching for food sources that have not emerged yet, Madeline Potter, faculty specialist at the University of Maryland Extension Home and Garden Information Center, told ABC News.

Mismatches like this one could bring serious consequences, as more than 80% of the world's flowering plants rely on pollinators to reproduce, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Rising sea levels are impacting DC's trees

Last year, more than 150 of the flowering cherry trees were cut down due to rising sea levels, which took a toll on the crumbling seawalls surrounding the Tidal Basin, a reservoir built between the Potomac River and Washington Channel, according to the NPS.

Cherry trees rely on dry land and fresh water. When the Tidal Basin floods, saltwater saturates the soil and can enter the roots of the trees. Too much saltwater intrusion in the soil can weaken and eventually kill a cherry tree, according to the NPS.

Sea level in the Washington, D.C., area has risen by more than a foot over the last century, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Current projections show that by 2050, the East Coast could experience an average sea level rise of 10 to 14 inches. Sea level rise at a specific location will vary regionally along the nation's coastlines due to changes in both land and ocean height.

Trees between the Thomas Jefferson Memorial and Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, including "Stumpy," an ailing tree that became infamous for its distressed appearance, were chopped down in 2024.