Washington, D.C.’s cherry blossoms have become an integral part of the District’s cultural identity, with its annual National Cherry Blossom Festival being one of the most anticipated local events of the year.
So it goes without saying that towards the end of every winter, Washingtonians look forward to the first signs of cherry blossom coverage because it means one thing: spring is almost here.
Now, we’re happy to report that as of February 16th, the District’s cherry blossoms have reached the semi-unofficial ‘Waking Up’ stage of their 2026 bloom.
The ‘official’ announcement came from the National Cherry Blossom Festival’s official ‘Cherry Blossom Watch‘, one of the primary sources that documents and reports on the blooming progress of the Tidal Basin’s cherry blossoms.
When are D.C.’s cherry blossoms going to bloom this year?
It’s still too early for accurate predictions for the District’s cherry blossoms this spring, which means that there have been no official predictions made yet by the National Park Service’s team of horticulturists.
However, over the past decade, the ‘peak bloom’, which is marked by over 70% of the Tidal Basin’s cherry blossoms being in bloom at the same time, has largely fallen between late March and the first few days of April.
As far as the start of the cherry blossoms’ blooming process is concerned, when over 70% of the blossoms around the Tidal Basin officially enter ‘Stage 1’ of the blooming process (Green Buds), over the past 10 years, it has consistently been between the last few days of February and the first two weeks of March.
Did D.C.’s frigid winter negatively impact the cherry blossoms?
In short, no.
The cherry blossoms remained dormant during the historic freezing weather that the District experienced this winter, so there has been no long-term negative impact on the cherry blossoms noted at this point.
That being said, the winter’s harsh conditions could lead you to assume a late bloom is on its way this season, but the reality is that with warm spring weather predicted to come in the coming weeks, it is impossible to know when the bloom cycle will start so far in advance.