Cherry blossoms blooming, withering earlier than usual

Tourists walk under cherry blossom trees in full bloom at Gyeonghwa Station in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, Monday, a day before the opening of Jinhae Goonhangje, a cherry blossom festival. / Yonhap

By Kim Se-jeong

The first blooming of cherry blossoms in Seoul came on March 28 amid unusually high temperatures.

This is the first time in 92 years that cherry blossoms have bloomed in March in the capital since 1922 when the nation's weather agency started compiling data, according to the Korean Meteorological Administration (KMA).

"The blooming of cherry blossoms in March is unprecedented. It's the result of the combination of unusually high temperatures and low precipitation," a KMA official said. "Climate change is attributable to such an unusual phenomena."

Seoul's average temperature in March was 7.2 degrees Celsius, 1.5 degrees higher than usual. The temperature rose as high as 23.8 degrees on March 28.

In Seoguipo on Jeju Island, the first blooming was observed on March 25, eight days earlier than last year.

A disruption in the blooming schedule disturbs municipalities which prepare for cherry blossom festivals.

Seoul's famous cherry blossom festival on Yeoido is not until mid April.

Jinhae has one of the biggest festivals in the country aiming at the cherry blossom blooming season. The festival is scheduled to begin today for 10 days, but an official at the Jinhae city said flowers were already in a full bloom.

The KMA said the daily highs will remain above 20 degrees until Wednesday before going back to annual averages between 15-17 degrees.

Early blooming of flowers is one of the mild consequences of climate change.

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