When the cherry trees in front of her Northwest Washington apartment building
began to turn pink with blossoms several days ago, delighting her and her
children, Nina Chkhenkeli took pictures and sent them to family members in
Tbilisi, the capital of the Republic of Georgia.
"It's amazing," she said yesterday, standing next to one of the Macomb Street
trees and joining the rest of the Washington area in celebrating the end of a
warm year. "I told everyone back home, this is what it is like in Washington in
December."
Well, at least in 2006.
Steve Zubrick, science and operations officer at the National Weather Service's
weather forecasting office in Sterling, said December probably will be one of
the 10 warmest on record for the Washington area. Additionally, 2006 might be
the area's eighth-warmest year since 1871, when data were first collected.
December's warmth proved a fitting end to a year of abnormal weather in the
region. The year started much in the same way it ended: January 2006 was one of
the 10 warmest on record, with some days in the mid-60s.
A springtime drought was followed by June floods that claimed at least seven
lives and left parts of several of the region's federal buildings under water.
Another drought appeared in August, when a record heat wave pushed thermometers
above 100 degrees.
Scientists were cautious about assigning credit or blame for the unusual
weather. Many think global warming, caused by man-made air pollution, is
increasing temperatures worldwide. In the United States, 2006 will be the
second- or third-warmest year on record.
But the balmy cooler months might also have something to do with the El Niño
climate pattern -- a complicated phenomenon brought on by warming of the eastern
Pacific Ocean.
Whatever the reason, many area residents, expecting cold weather to return, said
yesterday that they were going to enjoy temperatures in the upper 40s as long as
they could.
Corliss Wallingford was walking her three dogs yesterday in the Rosemont section
of Alexandria. In December, "we kept telling the children each time might be the
last time we could do this outside this year," said Wallingford, who runs
Lorton-based Simple Changes, a group that provides therapeutic horseback riding
for children with disabilities. But, she said, they might be outside again
Wednesday.
Pansies filled yards with blues, pinks and yellows, a common December sight in
Washington. Unusual, though, were the small yellow blossoms bursting forth on
several forsythia bushes, a blast of color that typically does not show until
spring.
Drawing particular attention were the four spindly 8-foot-tall cherry trees in
front of Chkhenkeli's five-story apartment building, Macomb Gardens, west of
Wisconsin Avenue. At least admirers thought they were cherry trees, with scores
of white-pink blossoms, each about a half-inch in diameter.
Claudia Olson, manager of perennials at Johnson's Florist and Garden Center,
confirmed the identification. She said that she had seen the trees a week ago
and that they appeared to be an autumnal variety, sometimes known as rosebud or
winter cherry. They are known for blooming in winter if the weather is warm
enough.
Olson said she was more worried about local holly bushes, magnolias and the
grape vines at the winery near her home in Dickerson. They could be hurt by a
cold spell if the temperature drops too quickly, leaving the plants with little
time to adjust.
The National Weather Service is trying to figure out the chances of that
happening, Zubrick said. Yesterday's high was about 48 degrees, and its low was
38 degrees, compared with the day's average high of 43 and low of 29.
Temperatures recorded by the weather service at Reagan National Airport had
December's average at 44.3 degrees, well above the month's 39.5-degree average
for the region.
The weather service's forecasters had said that there was an equal chance that
winter temperatures would be higher or lower than normal. But after plugging the
past 21 days of above-normal temperatures into their calculations, forecasters
"have the region as having a slightly better chance of [temperatures] being
above normal" through March 31, Zubrick said.
Erin Gray, a waitress at Two Amys, the gourmet pizza restaurant next to Macomb
Gardens, peered out at the cherry trees and said she was not that happy about
all this.
"I'm from Vermont," she said. "I feel we should have some snow about now."