Cherry blossoms one stage away from peak bloom
WASHINGTON - As the days inch closer to what we hope will be peak bloom for the cherry blossoms, National Park Service officials say cherry blossoms have now advanced to Stage 5 "puffy white," just one stage away from peak bloom.
Experts say we should start to see peak bloom blossoms "by the end of the week given the continued mild forecast."
Around the National Mall, they say weeping cherries are full bloom, while 20 percent of the Yoshinos are at peak.
Continuing cold weather through March caused cherry blossom experts to push back their estimate for peak bloom to be between April 8 and April 12.
The original peak bloom dates were scheduled for between March 17 and March 20, but were shifted back 10 days to between March 27 through March 31 after a colder than average March.
The average peak bloom is April 4. In 2017, peak bloom was on March 25.