This week's winter storm might have severely damaged the Japanese flowering cherry trees around the Tidal Basin on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., putting this year's Cherry Blossom Festival at risk.

The National Park Service on Wednesday morning completed an inspection of the cherry trees in the wake of bitter overnight temperatures. "Horticulturalists examining the trees found widespread damage in blossoms that had reached 'puffy white,' the fifth of six stages in the bloom cycle," a Park Service release said. "They have taken cuttings of branches containing blossoms at earlier stages and will force them open over the next 24-48 hours to determine what, if any, damage may have occurred in those blossoms."

Mike Litterest, chief of communications for the National Mall and Memorial Parks, said that "because the blossoms are so close to peak bloom and are exposed from the protection of the buds, they are particularly vulnerable to cold temperatures right now. Cherry blossoms start to sustain damage when temperatures hit 27 degrees; at 24 degrees, up to 90 percent of exposed blossoms can be affected. Temperatures hit the critical 27-degree mark just before midnight last night, and remained below that level as of 10 a.m this morning, including a five-hour stretch at or below 24 degrees. Temperatures are forecast to be in the low 20s again for the next two nights."

"With temperatures moderating after the current cold snap, peak bloom of the Yoshino variety of cherry trees is still expected to occur within the projected March 19-22 window," he added. "However, the number of cherry trees that reach the blossom stage may be reduced as a result of the recent cold temperatures. Additional varieties of trees, including the Kwanzans (the second most abundant species around the Tidal Basin and in East Potomac Park) bloom later and their buds are protected from the current cold temperatures. The Kwanzan trees are projected to bloom April 10-13."