Cherry Blossoms, Now A Gorgeous, Sign Of Climate Change

UPDATE:

A past peak cherry tree bloom in Washington DC. This
year's is among the earliest on record. Same is
true with cherry blossoms in Japan

The cherry blossoms in Washington DC look like they 99 percent survived the frosty weather in the area over the past couple of days. 

Cherry blossoms start to die and turn brown when the temperature gets down to 28 degrees.

The temperature at nearby Reagan Airport got as low as 29 degrees. So it was a really close shave, but the blossoms managed to squeak through. 

The weather is turning warmer in Washington, and temperatures are expected to remain far above freezing for at least the next week.  

Peak bloom is expected during the second half of this week. 
 

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A beloved harbinger of spring is extraordinarily early once again in two nations on opposite sides of the world. 

Cherry blossoms are out this year earlier than ever before  - or close to it - in Japan and Washington DC 

Cherry blossoms are already blooming in Tokyo, tying records set in 2020 and 2021 for earliest blooms since at least 1953. 

In Kyoto, Japan, the cherry blossoms might peak on March 26 or earlier. If that happens, it will be the earliest peak bloom there in at least 1,200 years. 

Meanwhile, in Washington DC, cherry blossoms are running at a near record early pace as well.

According to this March 7 report in the Washington Post:

"On Tuesday, the National Park Service declared the blossoms reached Stage 3 out of 6, known as "extension of florets." At this stage, the buds encasing the flowers begin to expand. March 7 marks the second-earliest date the buds have reached this stage since records began in 2004."

Since then, the blossoms continued to progress, and are heading toward peak bloom far ahead of schedule, despite weather that has not been as abnormally warm like it was in January through the opening days of March. 

As far north as Central Park in New York City, an early variety of cherry is blooming. No word on how this weekend's cold weather has affected those blossoms. 

Climate change is contributing to the warm winters and the premature springs that create these early blooms. The trouble is, it's just mid-March. Climate change or not, we can still see some brutal, blossom killing cold snaps.

As it is, Washington DC is having a chilly weekend, and early blossoms are at risk of being damaged or destroyed if it gets too cold. It got down to 29 degrees at Reagan National Airport this morning, and the expect low in Washington Monday morning is 28 degrees.  

Central Park Conservatory reports some early varieties of
cherry blossoms are already blooming in New York City. 

Those temperatures could damage some early blossoms, but many more would survive. But real trouble hits if it gets any colder than that. 

March, 2017 was another year in which Washington's cherry trees bloomed almost two weeks earlier than normal. Then, from March 11 to 17, Washington DC endured seven mornings in a row in the 20s, with temperatures dipping to as low as 22 degrees.

 Half of the city's cherry blossoms were killed just before they would have fully bloomed, the first time in the then-105 year history of spring cherry trees near the Tidal Basin.   

Washington's cherry trees face other log term threats due to climate change. Sea level rise is causing higher water in the Tidal Basin. This can make salt infiltrate the ground where the cherry trees are, eventually killing the roots, and thus the trees.

This isn't an imminent problem but it's one that will be an increasing threat in the coming decades.