Photo by FlipMode79.

Morning Washington. The winds have subsided and we’re back to a typical February day: mild and sunny. We’re not quite away from winter yet though: we might see some snow Monday night into Tuesday.

>> Not surprisingly, thousands in the region are without power after yesterday’s strong winds. The region also saw a lot of brush fires as our weather was primed for fires: dry conditions coupled with strong winds tend to do that. Firefighters battled fires in Laurel and Germantown, MD as well as Dale City, VA. At least 150 acres of the Shenandoah National Forest had burned by late afternoon yesterday.

>> This doesn’t look good: amid budget cuts the Gray Administration is hiring more senior staffers, at higher salaries. Meanwhile, city employees are being put on furlough and important services are on the chopping block.

>> Following Giant’s decision to only allow the Salvation Army bell ringers outside of their stores for shorter hours – Giant has donated $75,000 to the charity. The decreased hours meant that the Salvation Army didn’t reach their donation goals and were considering cutting the holiday bell ringers program.