March 31. Photo by John Sonderman.

Need a break from election madness? How about an update on the cherry blossom trees!

March 31 saw the extension of florets, according to the National Park Service, the latest date since 2005. On average, this means peak bloom is 12 to 17 days away. The cherry blossoms were predicted to reach this most beautiful, fleeting stage between April 8 and April 12. In 2005, again when the extension happened on March 31, peak bloom occurred on April 9.

You can check up on the blossoms using Earth Cam’s live camera.