Weather information company Weathernews (Chiba City) announced on January 11th that the Someiyoshino cherry trees in Hirosaki Park (Shimoshirogane-cho, Hirosaki City) will bloom on April 15th.

The ``1st Cherry Blossom Bloom Forecast'' announced by the company in 2024 predicts the blooming date based on more than 2 million cherry blossom reports collected over the past 20 years, temperature and other observation results, and weather forecasts. This year, Someiyoshino cherry trees are blooming earlier than normal in many places across the country, and the blooms will be about the same or later than last year.

The flowering forecast for Hirosaki Park is seven days earlier than April 22nd, which is the standard flowering date set by Hirosaki City. Last year, the Somei Yoshino cherry trees in Hirosaki Park bloomed the earliest in recorded history since 1947, with the standard trees blooming on April 7th. The company's first forecast last year was April 17th.

The Hirosaki City Parks and Greenery Division, which manages the cherry blossoms in Hirosaki Park, predicts the blooming of the Yoshino cherry trees based on the blooming of the witch hazel that blooms within the park. Makiko Hashiba, an arborist, says, ``We don't have any information to predict flowering right now, but the forecast is for temperatures in March and April to be higher than normal, so flowering may be earlier than usual.''

Hirosaki City has announced that the Hirosaki Cherry Blossom Festival will be held this year from April 19th to May 5th, four days earlier than usual.