(Image 01 March 2023 courtesy NBC Washington DC)
“The cherry trees have progressed to florets visible, the 2nd of 6 stages. Depending on the weather, peak bloom should be around 3 weeks away!” @NationalMallNPS tweeted.
Naturally, the news was electrifying. The cherry blossoms down around the Tidal Basin hit Stage Two on their germination process. It was a topic that immediately raised partisan rancor, with some holding that policies enacted a few years ago had accelerated the progress of Doom while others claim the reverse under current wise leadership.
We are in a bit of a pickle here at Big Pink. We have (independent contracting staff) working on both critical information paths. Those are land mobility conditions in Ukraine and the state of development of the Cherry Blossoms. Both are directly related to climatic variations. We have to rely on external sources for terrain conditions overseas, so that is a less reliable source of information.
Here, things are clearer. We had a fairly warm January and February. The trees responded, but the effort may be in vain. There is a massive cold front out west and it is headed this way. That could impact the Stage Two process, and the Peak Bloom varies annually depending on weather conditions. The most likely time to reach peak bloom is between the last week of March and the first week of April. We appear to be on track for something like that, much like a Russian or Ukrainian standing on a tank looking at the field they must cross.
We have entered our period of uncertainty. External events- warm or cool temperatures- have had Peak Visibility as early as 15 March, 1990 and as late as 18 April, 1958.
How long will we be able to see the blossoms? The ones here were donated by the Imperial Japanese Government as a gesture of peace from the Yoshino (Prunus x yedoensis) strain of trees. They typically bloom for around a week. Prime duration depends on weather conditions. Cool, calm weather can extend the blooms while a rainy, windy day can bring an abrupt end to the panoply. A late frost can prevent the trees from blooming at all, and we are still not out of that dog-patch possibility yet..
We don’t know. The Lady in Red on the flatscreen is saying maybe early showers and chill, which is bad news since the Headquarters Moving Staff is supposed to appear sometime after 0800 and relocate all critical information support systems. And some beds.
We will see how that goes. At least the Cherry Blossoms have their hearts in it!
Copyright 2023 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com