een: the cherry blossom festival is underway. the cherry blossoms are almost at peak bloom. take a look at the flowers. a lot of petals starting to emerge. the national park serce of the cherry blossoms out and day orwithin the next so. these warm temperatures are just what the blossoms need. people have been flocking down to takeidal basin photos of these beautiful trees that were, of course, a gift to us from the japanese. we are going to be seeing a lot more of these school trips and tourists coming down. a lot of people excited to be here. we are also excited to be partnered with the national cherry blossom festival. i get to judge the cherry blossom kite festival happening april 2. we hope you will join us april 16 for the big cherry blossom parade. find out much more online. i'm eileen whelan at the tidal basin. back to you. melanie: looking very pretty. i'm jealous that i'm not down there. doug: temperatures in the 60's to about 70 now. everybody that is cool, hang in there. this is about 25 miles southeast of denver. they want looking -- let me go back. let me snatch

the begin looks looks great for the jury blossoms. -- cherry blossoms. thank you to jenny for showing this picture. gorgeous. another beautiful image sent in by laura. same view of the jefferson memorial. a gorgeous weather pattern today. we expect sunshine to develop as the cold front swings through, 73 now. a little bit warmer ahead of the front and behind the front it cools off. with the sunshine, it will warm up this afternoon. 70 to 72 with clearing skies and sunshine this afternoon. dropping tonight in the mid-50's. the rain showers ourselves and east of town mostly with a few heavy showers through charles county into northwestern calvert county and bay. that will move to the east at a good clip in the next hour. a beautiful afternoon today. the weekend looks fine with plenty of sunshine tomorrow to start and winds are supposed to be north-northeasterly but if they turn to the east during the day that will result in added cloud cover. sunday, for easter mostly sunny, highs 66 degrees. we have been talking about the possibility of rain late sunday n

up, cherry blossom time is here. how those blossoms are dealing with the sudden blast of winter even though it is the first day of spring. announcer: countdown to kimberly: we wanted to give you a quick correction -- 88 years ago, it was president coolidge presidentd cuba, not hoover. thank you to the gentleman who that.d out about mr. president and first lady welcoming a second eaglet into those -- into their nest. the first hatched on friday. we have all been glued to the live web camera. live picture on the left -- we have posted a link on wjla.com. one week from easter. so cool. that eaglet might have appreciated a little warmer weather on this first day of spring. and with the cherry blossoms expected to hit peak bloom this week, there is a concern for their well being. theis live at with how they are faring. take a look at these buds. this is what we are seeing a lot of out here today. the national park service does the cooler the temperatures, the slower the bloom process but they don't expect this weekend col

and with it the wonderful cherry blossoms. the big announcement involving this year's festival but first let's check in with storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell with more on the forecast. >> yes, indeed, this guy has the picture of the day. indeed, clearing skies becoming mostly sunny, but ferociously windy. the rain is coming to an end this morning. the wins will gust between 40 and 50 miles an hour today. a hard freeze coming tonight and a chance of rain/snow combination thursday night into friday. early this morning, winds gusting between 30 and 40 miles per hour. blast of rain in far southern maryland and eastern shore. here's a look at the next 24 hours. wind increasing, temperatures mid-40s by this morning. by 7:00, back to the upper 30s with windchills below freezing. tomorro temperatures below freezing. bundle up, it's a windy and cold day coming. >> it say windy and cold day. southbound 28 at frying pan road. brand new crash on the left side of the roadway being reported. we'll try and get you more information and t

down for the first time to see s cherry blossoms. blossom that's erin.'>> i'm so excited tucker. tucke talk to your friend behind you y and we want to know if she wasow taking pictures of the sunrise s or of you.or of you anything else you guys want toat know or is that it?t? >> that covers it. >> we really enjoyed that sonj thank you tucker. tr. you played our morning so far. f skyfox your morning is notmo being made if you're headed hea out on the outer loop. theer l all jammed up 95 to georgia.o gg you can see traffic is just atat a crawl there as they showe that delay.th no crashes to report just a whole lot of people trying tog o make their way to work.heir w inner loop looking a litaytle bit better right now. we'll switch it back to a look o at our maps and show you what y else is going on. 395 north congestion from duke f street to seminary. seminar inner loop jams just a little at bit from prince george's across the wilson bridge. w and into the districtil we do do have delays and crashnd activity. unfortunately a crash on o suitland parkway. par

leon: do they have cherry blossoms over there?ve: they have cherry blossom bunches -- not from the tidal basin. leon: the traffic will be bad this weekend. the peak blooms? sunshine,eed, lots of a little cool compared with today, only 60 degrees the daytime high. everything looking nice easter sunday, for those of you are going to church early in the morning, lower 60's. by the afternoon,. rain on the way monday. leon: enjoy the blossoms. do when no one is watching. david trone banned the box so people who've paid their debt to society could have a chance. and fought so hard for criminal justice reform, they named a center after him. and because education was his way out david offered it free to employees. and over 14 years ago began offering them partner benefits. evening the playing field has always been david's mission. in congress it'll be his job. it's not how you run, it's how you live. i'm david trone and i approve this message. >> dicky: from hollywood, it's "jimmy kimmel live"! tonight -- henry cavill. from "empire," gabo

cherry blossoms are out.nd amelia segal is out as well getting ready for the cherry blossom festival. amelia, i saw some of the pictures you put on instagram this morning. those blossoms are popping. they look awesome. >> reporter: oh, it's beautiful down here, aaron, peak bloom on the way. we can see is on average f ten days to start seeing pink coloring. joining me is diana mayhew. she's the president of the cherry blossom festival. people out with cameras. what can they expect? >> you come down, the gorgeous blossoms, enjoy music down here at the tidal basin and join us this saturday for the opening ceremony at the theater. >> reporter: i know you've been involved with the cherry blossoms for 16 years now. you have a little expertise. lure yo you're looking at the blooms and thinking seven more days. >> based on the weather and where they are right now, it's going to be a gorgeous weekend. i think it's going to go bond the weekend. >> reporter: the festival goes well beyond the weekend. it goes until april

on sunday, the cherry blossom festival will kick off. a preview of one way you can enjoy the pop of spring color. >> we are enjoying the sights this afternoon at the wharf and we want to tell you there are different ways to take in the cherry blossoms. cruises. >> each year, our chefs put together a special play for the menu inspired by the cherry blossoms. >> we want to get right to the food. it looks beautiful. you are the chef here, the creator. talk to me about what inspired it and what we are looking at. >> what inspired it is that you're a blossom festival. we always do something every year for a new creation for the cherry blossom festival. >> the first plate here. >> this is our braised short rib with idaho forc british mash. sauce.abernet sauvignon the cheesecake was created especially for the festival. we he and a black terry sauce. -- cherry sauce. and the drinks were created specifically for the festival. champagneifornia brut and maraschino cherries. >> thank you so much. if you want information on how to join, it's really a

share your blossom experience with us. e-mail us your pictures. >> such a beautiful sight out there. it was a rocky welcome to the bahamas. the dangerous situation for passengers on their way to paradise. >> major storm damage in parts of florida. flooded streets and the danger for neighbors cleaning up their homes. but jamie raskin is the only democrat for congress who's authored landmark progressive laws -- marriage equality, equal pay for women, green maryland act, assault weapons ban, and more. raskin: i'm jamie raskin, and i approve this message. >>> talk about a bumpy landing for passengers. the front landing gear, something went wrong, malfunctioned, did not fully extend. a viewer sent us this of the landing. it had its nose on the run way. those on board said it was nerve-racking. >>> i got really scared and started crying. >> we were just flying around in circles. >> it was pretty scary. >> yeah. general consensus, scary. close call. no question. the passenge

and enjoying the beautiful weather and the beautiful blossoms.bc7 and newschannel8 are proud to be sponsors of this year's cherry blossom festival. if you go to the tidal basin this year, we want to see your pictures. e-mail them to pics@wjla.com. you may see them on air or the website. leon: you and i will kick things off at the opening ceremonies this weekend at the warner theater saturday night. maureen: hope the weather is nice. doug: well, we get more into the festival they will be having fireworks in a couple of weeks. southwest water front. i'm elsee that. everybody is -- i'll emcee that. everybody is involved. fun to be part of it. leon: we need weather to cooperate. doug: so far, so good. tomorrow is even better. look at the rehoboth beach, delaware. 69 degrees there now. we are at 70 about an hour ago. things are improving weather wise. i want to share this great, great image. photo journalist jim at abc7 took. beautiful image of the blossoms. and the jefferson memorial in the background. more pictures. please send them and enjoy every

be small. >> if we were at what is called puffy blossoms right before they go to peak when the blossom is exposed, almost completely, yes. then a freeze and a snow would be a greater concern. maureen: the park service frequently adjusts the peak forecast based on the weather. so stay with abc7 and newschannel8 for coverage of the cherry blossom festival. leon: wednesday and thursday? doug: thursday and friday next week. we leon: okay. doug: maybe the mid-to-upper 30's. it will be fine. not very pleasant weekend to be outside. that is the story. start with what we have at the moment. pleasant enough right now. take a look at a time lapse story of the day. this is the point along idaho avenue along northwest in washington. not fall from the national cathedral. 60 degrees there. through the day we have picked up a couple of fair weather clouds. that is all. we won't have any weather associated tonight. it's clear now. but we will see the temperatures take a drop. 67 and 48 are the high and the low. well above the averages of 57 and 38 degrees. sun sets tonight at 7:14. the story with the

flashlight to light up the cherry blossoms. so that the exposure gets maximum color on the cherry blossoms and on the print. >> each year, the blooming trees draw 1.5 million people to the area. and after seeing the year. >> now, i want to make sure that it is a tradition for us to come every year. >> with more springtime warmth in the forecast, in the upcoming days, it will be perfect for viewing this year's peak blooms. in washington, meteorologist melissa nord, wusa 9 news. >> never gets old looking at those, does it? >>> well it is pay back time for all of those school days lost to the snow this winter. prince george's county says it is 15, 16, 17, and 20, those days in june, are makeup days. monday, june 20 is the last day of school. classes do let out two hours early. so there is that. >> and we probably won't be adding to that number. >> we are pretty safe at this point. >> not that it can't snow a little more. but the snow just doesn't stick this time of the year. >> it is not a closing worth of snow. >> not going to ha

blossoms. going to check in with w tucker barnes in just a littleut bit and we are going to findin out more about the festivalva coming up, about the peak the pk bloom dates and of course it'ssn tucker so we'll find out about the weather and how that mightig impact you going down see themee as well.as wl. >> see if anybody is hanging hgi around next to him. >> we need to find out thefind o easiest way to get there.here i would think metro too smithsonian and then walk.n wal >> i'm thinking about getting down there and i know not tonowt take my car. >> i think metro is good.ros g steve had given a gooden a goo suggestion. he said he might take a joge a down there.down t >> yes, but it's a lot fartherah jog for allison to get there. >> fair. i would say drive but leave early or take metro and walk. w >> i think that's what i'll wt ' do. >> smithsonian station issoni confirmed the best closestlo stop. stop. >> thanks erin. >> you got it.>> y crash activity bw parkway p southbound after 198.ft 1 po

. >>> thousands are here for peak blossoms of the cherry blossom festival. tom kierein is tracking cooler temperatures. tom, might be a good idea to bring a sweater out there. >> yeah. or your winter coat. it feels wintery cold. it is down in the 30s under a clear blue sky. looking off toward the north into montgomery county. a view of the tidal basin. cool temperatures will keep them at peak color for a little bit longer. they are going to be refrigerated the next day or so so. clear, cold morning. sunny and cool afternoon on the on way. easter sunday looking cloudy and cool. a few chances for light sprinkles tomorrow morning. >>> tom, thank you. breaking news out of fairfax county. alexandria section of the county. police were called to celtic drive. they found a man stabbed in the leg. no word on on a suspect on or motive here. >> and now alcohol may be a factor in a deadly crash in charles county. maryland state police were called to route 5 roosevelt place on thursday night at 9:00. police say the driver of an suv failed to yield as he was trying to cro

a number of the blossoms down. reporter: it seems like mother nature has been throwing curveballs right and left. >> rain overnight. it will probably bring some blossoms down. there are some trees that have not bloomed yet. the second most abundant variety, where looking for them to be at peak loom april 4 and 5. cannot get down in the next day or so, you still have the opportunity to see spectacular blossoms in the next week or so. reporter: thank you so much. there is good news. there's still a chance to see it. right now, it does look gorgeous. if you don't mind the wacky at the tidal basin. jeannette reyes, back to you. jummy: thank you. now a live look at the tidal basin. you see the cherry trees along the water. still a lot of people out there. thankfully, the sun is out. doug: we have bright sunshine. temperatures will be comfortable in the 60's. the winds are going to get strong midafternoon. let's tell you the story. we are going to lose some of them but hopefully not all of them. this is from germantown m

than the blossoms. kellye: this is a tradition for you and your family, you were telling me. >> yeah. i have been coming every year since i was a baby. i live in the northern virginia area. kellye: your dog is the subject matter today but you were the focal point many years ago when you were younger. stuffed animals up with my sister and i and take pictures to send it to family members. i was cute. i was fun. kellye: so many other people trying to capture the memory of being here at the wonderful time of year. coming up new at 5:00 i'll have additional tips to help you take the perfect cherry blossom photo. reporting live, kellye lynn, abc7 news. michelle: we look forward to that. thank you. abc7 is proud to be an official sponsor of this year's festival. thanks to all of you who have been sending us the wonderful pictures like this one. we have a gallery at wjla.com. you can add to it at pics@wjla.com. scott: a man has climbed down finally after spending a day on top of an 80-foot tree in downtown seat

blossom festival is already underway on pennsylvania avenue right now. tonight, one of the seas most unique traditions kicked off. it was not much doubt with the favorite color was. this is called the pink tie party. the national cherry blossom festival president says that it helps keeps events free of her the next four weeks. performances on the stage begin at 12:30 p.m. saturday. >> there will be over 100 performances over the next 50 days. tom: but there was preview of the real stars of the festival, the blossoms themselves. >> very excited, i cannot wait. this spring tradition and i love the fact so many people come out. tom: the latest production from the national park service is that the blossoms will peak around wednesday to thursday next week. >> as long as they bloom during the cherry blossom festival, i love it. tom: expect big crowds downtown. the blossoms and fistful drawing a lot of locals. we have already seen folks on spring break. a lot of people already in town. but it is worth it once these bloom. live along the tidal basin, tom roussey

open the nbc blossom app and search cherry blossom. >> now your storm team forecast. >> well, the cherry blossom peak blooms is one of the many things going on right now, storm team 4 meteorologist shows us what kind of weather you can expect to deploy this beautiful holiday weekend? >> it's beautiful out there, my goodness. the skies clear out tonight. we are looking at sunshine, the sun is going down at 7:00. depending on your location. enjoy, as we continue into the evening. now, temperatures a little on the cooler side today. and as we continue into the evening make sure you grab that jacket. it will be beautiful. we will see an increase in clouds, overnight and possibly some rain showers. tomorrow morning. it will be chilly, similar to last night for tomorro so just know, we will use that umbrella, if you are headed to sunrise services, we will have your full day services coming up. >> fairfax county say a man died after being stabbed in the leg. they found him unresponsive on sussex drive last night in the alexandria section of fairfax county. detectives are still trying to figure

cherry blossoms. why you'll want to get out and see them while you can. ♪ >> this is cbs3 "eyewitness news" with ukee washington, jessica dean, kate bilo and don bell. ♪ >>> in campaign 2016, donald trump is at the center of another fire storm. this time over comments about abortion. comments his campaign is now walking back. trump ignited the uproar while sparring with chris matthews that town hall in wisconsin. matthews pushed trump on how a hypothetical ban on portion would be enforced. here's the exchange. >> do you believe in punish many for abortion. >> yes or no aspirin? >> the answer is that there has to be some sort of punishment. >> for the woman. >> yeah, there has to be some form. >> trump campaign issued a statement saying the doctor would be held legally responsible not the woman. all the other presidential candidates crit sided trump's remarks tonight. >>> it happened here in philadelphia. now the big apple is auctioning off one of the pope's fiats used during his u.s. trip in september

cherry blossoms.hy you'll want to get out and see them while you can. ♪ >> this is cbs3 "eyewitness news" with ukee washington, jessica dean, kate bilo and don bell. ♪ >>> in campaign 2016, donald trump is at the center of another fire storm. this time over comments about abortion. comments his campaign is now walking back. trump ignited the uproar while sparring with chris matthews that town hall in wisconsin. matthews pushed trump on how a hypothetical ban on portion would be enforced. here's the exchange. >> do you believe in punish many for abortion. >> yes or no aspirin? >> the answer is that there has to be some sort of punishment. >> for the woman. >> yeah, there has to be some form. >> trump campaign issued a statement saying the doctor would be held legally responsible not the woman. all the other presidential candidates crit sided trump's remarks tonight. >>> it happened here in philadelphia. now the big apple is auctioning off one of the pope's fiats used during his u.s. trip in september.

this is the national cherry blossom festival's website. on one of the pages there is a link you can click to reserve parking. so you go further on the website and it shows you parking options. you can see right at the tidal basin nothing is listed. all the garages and the places to reserve are a few blocks away. let's try to reserve this one that is the cheapest one right here. $15. all right. so now it says our parking is confirmed. let's see if there is actually a space waiting for us at the garage. i'll told you can show the attendant the e-mail receipt or use the park now app but we printed out the receipt to show this to him. we did have to drive a number of levels down but eventually we got to some open spots and there was one waiting for us. i will say we did have a few technical difficulties trying to sign on but once we got it to work it did work well. we found another family in the easy to use. we are testing out other ways to get down here and park. one a total fail we found out. we will have it coming up at 5:00. right now i'm

cherry tree blossoms. are all gone? news4 midday starts right now. >>> a manhunt stepped up security and travel warnings all happening alongside a city in me mo moriam. crowds are gathering to honor the people who were killed and hurt in the brussels terror attacks. we're learning more about the bombings this morning and a manhunt for a suspect police say is on the run right now. for several hours, it wasn't clear whether najim laachraoui is in custody. he's not only responsible for the brussels attacks but the paris attacks as well. another person was arrested in a raid today. police said they found bomb-making supplies with more than 30 pounds of explosives along with an american flag. but they lived in brussels for two years. they were at the airport saying goodbye to stephanie's mom, who was getting on a flight. we are told she made it back safely. nobody has heard from them. at 11:15 we're live from the embassy of belgium here in washington where the president arrived to pay his respects just a short time ago. as t

tuesday, wednesday, thursday, good days for the blossoms. friday, cooler weather coming in over the weekend. united, if you are a true fan tomorrow at rfk stadium, you will brave the coldest rain. it will not be very nice. make sure that you have the rain gear and keep warm. kimberly: about the worst possible record for a soccer game. next up -- law enforcement in virginia gathering to honor those who have shown great valor. kimberly: honoring heroes, this week the prince william county chamber of commerce said thank you to firefighters, law enforcement, and rescue crews. jeff goldberg has more. [bagpipes play] honor thevalor awards men and women who wear the uniform in prince william county. this year it comes at a time of great pain. >> it helps strengthen our resolve, recognizing the vast majority of folks we deal with are supportive of the police department and emergency services. jeff: police chief is leading the department as they recover from the fatal shooting month of 28-year-old officer ashley guindon, which also injured two other

thousands have descended to see the blossoms. each year, the festival brings millions to the city in tourism. look how beautiful it is even at this hour. abc 7 and news channel 8 are proud sponsors of the cherry blossom festival. leon: they look like snow. alison: better than snow. we went to see your pictures. share them with us at pics@ wjla.com. air,ight see them on the but not on a vhs tape. none of us have a vcr. steve: can you imagine that, the movie was called "freddy got fingered," and he got fingered. day, leon,as a nice 67 degrees the current temperature at reagan national airport. looking down pennsylvania avenue, there are the cherry blossoms, 77 was the high earlier today, well above average for this time of year, normally with temperatures near 59 degrees. , 70's leesburg, 70's manassas, 71 fredericksburg at this hour. a little the bay, cooler with the wind out of the south. the reason you see the 52 is the wind over the chesapeake is about 10, 20 miles per hour, but nothing like we had earlier in the day. if your a

since you have your on ramp and offramp at orange blossom trail closed right now. one way you can get on or off would be a 417, the next closest place if you want to have that direction , or you could also get off or on at i- 4. southbound traffic on the turnpike and get through there but not at the on or off ramps. >>> police are calling an ambush a case of mistaken identity. the police know about the gun man they are looking for a why he never should have been able to get his hands on a weapon. kissimmee, coming up for the center marco rubio continues his campaign here at this corner bakery. what to expect this morning, and why he says he's not out of that race in the republican primary. the bigger the burrito, the bigger the fun. dunkin's new grandde burrito -- a breakfast burrito packed with big southwest flavor. go grande with veggie or sausage today. >>> sky witness nine is over the scene of this crash, the turnpike southbound your on and off ramps from orange blossom trail are blocked off right now because of this crash. orange county fire rescue crews have

this is what the cherly blossom look like right now. not blossomed. the buds out there.e it another few days, another week and a half or so and it will be amazing here. let's talk about the traffic. amazing or not so amazing, jamie sullivan? jamie: i thought we were talking about meatball day, steve. oh, well. steve: you can't have it all. jamie: fair enough. i have good news. i want to start off with. the earlier crash at route 202 cleared away. so good news. this is in place for the past two and a half hours. east of the capital beltway. volume on the inner a mixed in with the normal congestion. we move to talk about the capital beltway. 9 merm on the inner loop. in d.c. right now, 13 miles per hour heading northbound, kenaworth avenue to the d.c. line. heading southbound to the single digits approaching malcolm x. take a live look in d.c. along the national mall. the traffic moving at a great pace. we are seeing a lot of extra pedestrian traffic. keep that in mind. this evening a lot of people taking in the nice weather. getting downtown. again, the pedestrian traffic

and the cherry blossoms are in full bloom there now. even under a cloudy sky, still a he spectacle to see as people come from all over the world. this there is the rain south of richmond over to williamsburg and lower part of the eastern shore. it's advancing north and east, so this will stay well south of the metro area for the morning showers and much of the daylight hours. hour by hour forecast, by 10:00 in the low 50s. upper 50s by 2:00. and then just a slight chance of some sprinkles late afternoon, back down into the mid-50s by then a likelihood of that rain coming in tonight. i have new hour by hour timing on that in just a >>> developing this morning, the alexandria police department is investigating an in-custody death. a 54-year-old male inmate had a medical emergency last night at the adult detention center. he was rushed to inova hospital, but died. the man was in the custody of the sheriff's office at the time of the medical emergency. he was being held on federal charges. >>> now to the race for the white house. it was a b

this weekend is the kickoff offf the national cherry blossom festival.l be traditional and contemporary performances heldan at the warner theater.at the cherry blossom festival parade is on saturday april 16th.apri >> we are checking in with thecg eaglets now t arboretum here in d.c. in d i know.w. it's an instantaneously awe factor is it not.factorit n i just heard gary declare it. we happened to catch theto catch eagles at dinnertime.inrt seems like the eaglets areagle strong and they're doing very dg well in their nest.he n all good news. >> the district is gettingt is i ready to welcome yet anotheret o set of baby eaglets. eagle did you know that? two eagleste named freedom and justice arece perched outside of the mpd m southeast academy.ca the birds have been there for 11 years and produced two eggso in mid february. the eaglets are expected to eec hatch within the next week.k. >> ♪ >> it just seems like eaglese should be born in the d.c. area, you know what i mean? i mean, come on. >> yeah. well, you know, i'm so glad -- - and not that they care i

as i said, beautiful now for the cherry blossoms.g has more on that right now. >> and veronica i'm out here taking in the view here. taking a look at the city skyline here. obviously the washington monument, along the tidal basin. it is just beautiful. tons of people down here. as you mentioned, we talked about it earlier. this is now the peak of -- rather the start of peak, not quite peak just yet, but start of peak over the next couple days. a couple trees here are peak bloom. they're going to last upwards of why the festival goes right on through the second week of april. so a lot of great things coming up down here. i have my commemorative national cherry blossom festival cup. you buy this for $4.50. did you know this, you buy this for $4.50 and you get a refill of $2.40 at any other spot. they're all down here -- anybody from out of town? >> maryland. >> maryland, yes! all the way from the great state of maryland. it's very rare we meet somebody of your kind here. thank you so much for coming. we'll send it back to you guys righ

blossom is exposed almost completely, yes. a freeze and a snow of a greater concern. >> a tidal basin is packed with the visitors missing the peak bloom but a few weeks. >> i can only imagine what it looks like if it's in bloom. suzanne: charles leech hopes the frigid forecast won't ruin the spring tradition. >> it would be a shame. it is colorful. all the people will be here to see it to be a shame. keep your finger crossed. suzanne: this is wt some of the buds have popped. if you look over here. you can see that others remain closed. that certainly is good news as we head into this weekend's late winter weather. reporting live in southwest washington. suzanne kennedy, abc7 news. alison: okay. fingers crossed. thank you. leon: we are having a change with the timing of the blossoms. the entire festival kicks off tonight with the pink tie party. our colleague jonathan elias you may have noticed was wearing a pink tie, extremely pink tie earlier, he has the tie on the way to the reagan building for the event and he will have a l

but the cherry blossoms are blooming and they're at peak and that means the traffic is, too.s is what you have waiting for you if you decide to drive down here. thousands and thousands of people, thousands and thousands of cars all trying to get to the same place. with the blossoms now at peak bloom, it's up to mother nature as to how long they stick around. >> we've seen for the last several days crowd coming up this weekend. it's easter. the weather is supposed to be nice. easter egg roll on part of next week if the weather cooperates, we'll see traffic and crowds like this. >> reporter: once you do get down to the tidal basin, there's lots to do and see beyond just the cherry blossoms. ♪ but getting here won't be easy for most of you. there are the traditional options for getting here. of course, metro is one of your best bets, but one of the escalators at the smithsonian station is out. lots of people ride bikes, but like cars, parking for bikes is limited. there were people who did both. drive and then bike. did you bike from burke? >> no, we got really lucky and got roc

it's a great time to see the cherry blossoms. >> cherry blossoms makes me refreshed. >> today, the annualherry blossom festival draws more than a million people to soak up their serene beauty and snap selfies but for photographers seek that perfect panorama, the u.s. national park service has a message: washington is a no-drone zone. >> flying a drone within these areas at any time including the national cherry blossom festival is against the lawyer. violators could face stiff crimes and penalties. >> int the cherry blossoms are a metaphor for life. overwhelmingly beautiful but fleeting. that's a notion that everyone in this capitol from the poorest to the most powerful might do well to ponder. >> new york's metropolitan museum of art is one of the world's most influential spaces. it was pounded 146 years ago and remains one of the city's top stacks but to stay more current, it's trying to be more modern as ca gabriel reports from new york. >> 50 mirrors back to back placed in sand with shells and pebbles. it's one of the many pieces of non-traditional works at new york's metropolitan mus

keep umbrella handy if you head down to cherry blossoms friday. i think there will be primarily morning showers. quick hitters but our model guidance is kind of bullish on a little more popping up in the afternoon. and we'll see if we can iron it out tomorrow. couple days away. saturday, cooler still, 62. easter sunday, 65. we're in good shape heading into this holiday weekend. and this is the mrizard we were talking about. it looks like it's just about out of colorado now and a good foot in denver and they were close tore 21" in some of the morning community there's in eastern colorado. that's moving into maces like nebraska, iowa, minnesota, across wisdom martin and into michigan. we will not see any of that. we'll have clear skies generally overnight and good amount of sunshine during the day tomorrow. an and because the skies are clear, though and air is dry that's why we'll head down to 54 in district. could be as cold as 42 frederick and 39 hailingers up to and 52 fredericksburg and nice night and that's mild this time of year. 76 degrees to

it's not just the blossoms. ask you service sunday morning at the lincoln memorial and easter egg roll on monday and the cats game and d.c. district over this weekend and traffic will be tough. take a look at one of the problems that we are seeing down here. if you look at where these pedestrians are standing trying to cross through traffic. this is what really has police and the park service nervous down here. people are not using the crosswalk. just crossing in the middle of the street and this is just going to get worse as traffic gets heavier and more and more people start coming down here. later in news 4 at 5:00 and 6:00, we'll show you some unique way that you can get down here to see the cherry blossom and avoid all of that traffic. so, you'll want to stay with us through 5:00 and 6:00. and, of course, a lot of what happens with the cherry blossoms depends on the weather. and we've got you covered there, too, with lauren ricketts. what can people expect? >> it is going to cooperate. thank goodness. i kn

it hasn't knocked the blossoms off. it will turn cooler but we will be fine for the cherry blossom watching saturday and sunday as well. get to it with the temperatures in the mid-to-upper 60's. cooler air is moving in. 57 in hagerstown. after the cold front the cooler air is coming in. it's dryer and gusty. we will see the numbers tumble after sunset. overnight we expect the numbers to drop in the 40's in the metro area. probable in the 30's in the -- probably in the 30's suburban areas. tomorrow starts with clouds. average temperature of 43 to 47. something like that in the morning in the metro area. then we start to warm up and we have a breeze out of the north and the northeast. that will keep it cooler. no more 70's. 61 will be the high. it looks like we'll stay dry through easter sunday and fill details of the easter forecast. talk about the timing of rain on monday. give at it few more days for the forecast with no extra charge. leon: you're so generallous. we appreciate -- you're so generous. we appreciate it. y

bring on the cherry blossoms. you can show your support for the vest value by attend -- festival by attending the pink tying fundraising vent. or take a stroll around the tidal basin to see the buds. peak bloom is expected the middle of next week. tomorrow head to annapolis for the sixth annual oyster roast and the sock burning. the tradition is meant to mark the arrival of spring and the sta t annapolis maritime museum. after lunch, you can stop by some of the historic homes and tour them in the maryland day celebration taking place this weekend. many tours are free. or cost less than $2 a person. and sunday, it's time to cheer on d.c. united as the players face colorado rapids in the home opener. the match starts at 5:00 p.m. at r.f.k. stadium. whatever you do this weekend i hope you have a great weekend. i'm "good morning washington"'s kidd o'shea. jonathan: the cherry blossom festival kicks off this weekend. we're proud media sponsors of the event. tonight is the annual pink tie party. i will be there tonight.

nex i'm sue palka with a warmup and breaking news about the cherry blossoms. even the cherry blossoms are do we have more warm days ahead any records potentially breaking in we're going to talk aboutk that and give you the very latest news on the cherry blossoms. fox5 local news at 10 will be right back. back. > it was roughly this time last year shootings began to spike across the district. tonight we caught up with ai seventh grader in southwest who became the face of the violent wave last summer. fox5's marina maracco is lifea a with more on the story that struck a cord with so am. >>reporter: tony, that little girl says it seems like the one you see right behind me are flashing lights and policeolic sirens are so common in her neighborhood.ne she heard several shootings after she herself was an innocent bystander shot by a drive by. she lives just across the street from the public housing across the library where she was just before that shooting last august. now her mother says after the shootinghe as city officials rallied behind them, but then she says

we are all blossoms in this nice warm weather. will it last? the 80's will not last. if you didn't get outside we may not see 80's again for quite sometime but it is still above average this weekend. lets look outside and take you out to storm scan three which is showing where those showers are. this is a weak cold front in that it does not have cold air witt. it will come through overnight tonight. these showers get a southward push. they will start to fall apart a a little bit heading through late tonight and overnight hours and this evening is fine. out in the city, heading out tonight, heading out for dinner, sitting outside, it is fine. dry until midnight. we will see these showers pushing southward. we have a few light showers working in the northern lehigh valley, carbon, monroe valley getting rain. that is slightly cooler in the poconos today. still heavy rain severe weather through deep south, same rain that has been sitting over the same areas for days at a time, leading to devastating flood ago cross, arkansas, louisiana a look at these totals. see blue and

again great conditions to check out cherry blossoms. on the breezy side but the temperatures are well above average for this time of year. highs will make it to 70's. more sunshine for afternoon hours. easter sunday looking great. howers back o have the potential to cause harm to the cherry blossoms along with the gusty winds. back after this. kathleen matthews: if we want to be heard, we need women in congress. it was the women who forced republicans to include women's health and contraceptive coverage in congress, i'll fight for pay equity, family leave and tougher gun safety laws. and, as an environmentalist, i'll work combat climate change. i know as a journalist and as a senior executive in business that when women are at the table, we get things done. i'm kathleen mathews and i approve this message. leon: we have breaking terror news to deliver. police raids in paris foiled a terrorist attack and a man is in custody for that. we are working to get details on that. scott thuman is working on that and he will bring you the news at "

we are counting down to the cherry blossoms for a long time. a couple other things we're counting down. the nats' home opener, summer begins in 87 days. so we are thinking warm spots on friday afternoon. the temperatures, good today. not 75 from yesterday but it's 68. we'll take that with the reagan national and skies partly cloudy. it's upper 60's to lower 70's in the metro. 72 in fort washington. 70 in largo. 68 in ashburn. farther north and west and it turns chillier than that. as far as the wind speeds go, out of the northwest 15 to 20 miles per hour. bringing in the dry air and the cooler temperatures as well. and the dry air and the gusty winds blowing the pollen all over the place, too. high levels of tree pollen in the air. grass and mold spores in the low range. as far as what is happening with the cloud cover it will thin out slowly. that is the trend over the day. the showers we e this morning moving through the area. now it's a waiting game for the drier winds to blow in along with the clearing skies throughout the entire area. so f

tomorrow, the cherry blossoms will reach their predicted peak bloom.he prediction was altered several times because of the wild swing in temperatures, but there are pink9 blossoms on the cherry trees, some of which are more than 100 years old. leon: about twice their normal age. considering the weather we get, that is awesome. news channel 8 and abc 7 are proud sponsors of this year's cherry blossom festival, already underway. andou go to the tidal basin take pictures of the blossoms, we want to see them. e-mail us the pictures at pics @wjla.com. two great days ahead of us. alison: speaking of how many cherry blossom festivals we have been through together -- brian: a lot. alison: our favorite time of year. brian: some excited because of spring break for the kids in the tourists inhe town for the peak bloom. and we have this amazing shot from john sonderman, just gorgeous. take some pictures if you can. send them over to us. if you send them to us, we will share them. a number that we don't like to see is the pollen number. category over the weekend, b

it's going to be a short summer, long school year. >> the cherry blossoms reached peak >> the blossoms are expected to remain in bloom for 4 to 10 days and the tidal basin is expected to be packed. >> reporter: it has been relatively crowded all day. it's gotten more and more crowded as temperatures cools down and the sun gets a little lower in the sky. you can think your weather man for the beautiful weather here but you have to thank somebody else for the cherry blossoms blooming every year. tell us about the care that goes into these trees. as you were telling me earlier, this just doesn't happen on its own. >> correct. there are about 38 trees under the care of the national park service. about 125 of those are original to the gift of 1912. we've got a full-time arbor crew of seven, seven men who do nothing but take care of the trees year-round. and we want to thank you for that. we've been getting a lot of questions in and trina thomas wants to know how long are they going to remain in season? >> we are just inside of peak. i expect with today's temperatures, tomorrow's forecast we

with the blooming of the cherry blossoms.rm team 4 meteorologist amelia segal is at the tidal basin as we usher in peak bloom. appropriately dressed this morning, amelia, nice color there. >> reporter: you know, i had a little planning in this, aaron, you're right, i'm live at the tidal basin. gorgeous out here this morning, temperatures in the 40s. cherry blossom festival under way. and it's going to continue until april 17th. this morning, i'm joined by the president of the national cherry blossom festival. good morning. >> good morning. >> reporter: what's the story on the cherry blossoms starting to see the coloring. glp yes, it's starting to peak, today, tomorrow and friday. >> reporter: if folks want to come to the tidal basin, what can they expect? 3rd at the stage there's over 100 performances. starting at noon until 6:00. then tonight just for something different join us for pasta and painting where an artist will be onsite painting a beautiful portrait of the tidal basin and you guys are active on twitter. i'm going

lots of you were heading to social media to post your blossom pictures.from those. you know exactly what that tweet means. pretty in pink that's very nice. beautiful shot back there. this is a personal favorite. i went out on, what was this, i think this was wednesday night, hit up the tidal basin for a run. look at those beauties. that's my favorite shot. if you got some beautiful images you want us to see we can share online send those pictures to isee@nbcwashington.com. staywith us we're fios is not cable. we're wired differently. in the last 10 years our competitors have received a few awards. but we've received a few more, including jd power who ranked us highest in customer satisfaction for the third year in a row. only fios has the fastest internet on the most awarded network. now get super-fast 100 meg internet tv and phone for just $69.99 per month, online. cable can't offer internet speeds this fast at a price this good, only f