FAIRFAX, Va., March 6 -- George Mason University issued the following news release:
Now in its fifth year, George Mason University's Cherry Blossom Prediction contest again received entries from around the world, with teams attempting to predict peak bloom in five different locations. But what local folks want to know is: how will all that "snowcrete" and our wacky winter impact the trees at the Tidal Basin and around Washington, D.C.?
"Typically, trees need a certain amount of cold weather and then a certain amount of warm weather to bloom," said Jonathan Auerbach, an assistant professor in the Department of Statistics and the competition co-organizer. "If they don't get enough of either, then the bloom is delayed. For this reason, many ...