After nearly a month of tracking cherry blossoms from green buds to peak bloom, the US National Park Service announced that 70% of the Yoshino blossoms are open as of Monday.
The Yoshino trees, first planted by First Lady Helen Herron Taft and Viscountess Chinda (wife of Japanese ambassador Count Chinda Sutemi) in 1912, have remained a staple of DC tourism for decades due to their uncommon presence in the states — and their fluffy pink and white glory.
Though the peak bloom date is "almost impossible" to predict "more than 10 days in advance," according to the NPS, this year's occurrence beat the April 4 average by three days.
Prior to the celebratory day, many Twitterians tracked the blossoming flowers in their budding stages.
Realizing that this start of the bloom period coincides with April Fool's Day, the NPS made it clear that this cherry blossom announcement is the real deal.
Monuments in the nation's capital such as the Jefferson Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, Washington Monument and Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial provided excellent backdrops for photos of the blossoms in full bloom around the Tidal Basin.
In addition to the opportunity to view the flowers in peak bloom for the next four to seven days, the surrounding weeks have and will be packed with a number of "National Cherry Blossom Festival" events that honor both American and Japanese cultures.
Though events began March 20, celebrations, including the popular (and free) National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade, are expected to continue through April 15.
Those unable to get to the DC area in the coming days are in luck, because according to Washington.org, the Kwanzan trees, a similar cherry species given to the US shortly after the iconic Yorshinos, should bloom in mid to late April "two weeks after the Yoshino trees."