SEATTLE, Wash. — Spring is around the corner, and the University of Washington (UW) says its cherry blossom trees on campus are close to blooming.
Marlee Theil, a UW graduate student in the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, predicts the bloom will happen sometime after March 20.
Theil says the trees are in the “green color” bud stage, which shows that the buds are beginning to break dormancy. This stage typically lasts about a week but could take a little longer.
The 29 Yoshino cherry trees in the Quad bloom earlier than many other species.
They typically bloom March through April, but forecasting the exact dates for those hoping to visit is a yearly challenge. To refine the prediction, a UW research group is using historical weather data going back to 1966 and student-collected observational data to determine the timing of the peak bloom. UW says they also look at how a warming climate impacts that date.
“We found that in Seattle, because our winters are so mild and warm, there’s actually been a delay in the bloom time over the past six decades,” says Autumn Maust, a UW doctoral student in the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. “The bloom time is shifting a little bit later.”
Muast says this is because cherry trees need to accumulate both chilling and warming units — accrued over springtime periods of cool and warm temperatures — to reach a threshold that forces them through the bloom stages. Mild winters mean it takes longer to reach the required chilling units.
UW has a visitors’ website dedicated to updates on the blooms. Tree enthusiasts who can’t make the trip can keep up with UW Video’s live webcam overlooking the Quad by clicking here.
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