Your morning news digest from KUOW | Monday, Feb. 25
Wildfire season // Potholes // Cherry blossoms // Amazon fashion
The latest forecast: a hot and dry summer.
State officials are already concerned about the summer fire season.
Janet Pearce, spokesperson for Washington's Department of Natural Resources, says they're not worried per se, but "we are preparing like crazy."
Warmer than normal weather in March could melt the snow early this year, setting the state up for a bad fire season. The National Weather Service also predicts hot weather July through September.
Pearce says they're starting to train firefighters now, and Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz has asked the legislature for more prevention money.
Pothole problems
You can blame that on the snowstorm and the cold snap that followed for all that bumping around on our roads.
Dawn Schellenberg, a spokesperson for the Seattle Department of Transportation, tries to fix all potholes within three days, but it’s going to take three months for the city to get caught up on the current backlog.
Cherry trees coming into swing
The recent snow storm did not damage the cherry trees — though the colder temperatures this month could affect the blossoms’ timing. The trees there are expected to bloom by the third week of March.
Want to follow the cherry trees’ progress? Check out the UW Quad webcam.
Alexa, does this online retailer make me look cool?
In this episode of Prime(d), we look at how Amazon has wormed its way into our wardrobes and how artificial intelligence could someday be dictating our fashion sense.
