News

Actions

Cold snap threatens cherry blossom bloom in DC

Posted at 7:52 AM, Mar 13, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-13 07:52:12-04

An unusually warm February followed by a looming burst of cold weather could threaten the famous bloom of cherry blossoms in the nation's capital.

Forecasts call for low temperatures Sunday of 25 degrees in Washington, followed by a possible snowstorm on Monday.

The cold weather is a problem because warm weather in February prompted the cherry blossoms to bud earlier than usual. The National Park Service is forecasting peak bloom to occur between March 19 and March 22.

RELATEDNational Park Service pushes back cherry blossom prediction

National Park Service officials told news outlets that low temperatures of 27 degrees would result in about a 10 percent loss of blossoms. But if the lows get down to 24 degrees, it could kill up to 90 percent of the pink-petaled wonders.

Download the ABC2 News app for the iPhoneKindle and Android.