Cherry blossom peak bloom from March 17 - 20, NPS predicts

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The National Park Service has announced their projected peak bloom dates for the blossoms on D.C.'s famous cherry trees. At Thursday's formal announcement at the Newseum, officials predicted that the peak bloom dates would be between March 17 and March 20.

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Peak bloom is defined as the day when 70 percent of the Yoshino cherry trees around the city's Tidal Basin are blossoming. Once peak bloom is reached, the blossoms can remain on the trees from four to 10 days.

In 2017, peak bloom dates were originally between March 14 and 17 but were pushed back to between March 19 and 22.

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On average, peak bloom comes in early April. Peak bloom has come as late as April 18 in 1958.