Signals of summer

Fireweed blooms on the banks of the Kenai River in Soldotna Creek Park on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2017 in Soldotna, Alaska. Though fireweed is not Alaska’s state flower, the pink blossoms are ubiquitous across the fields of the Kenai Peninsula and elsewhere in the state in the late summer months. The flower actually ranges all across northern North America, growing from sea level up to the alpine zone everywhere from Alaska to Arizona, according to the U.S. Forest Service.The name comes from the perennial plant’s ability to quickly colonize and take over former burn area, according to the Forest Service. Rain dripped on the flowers and trees of the central Kenai Peninsula Wednesday, but the National Weather Service predicts the rain to clear up by the weekend, with the potential for showers on Saturday but mixed with sunshine on Saturday and Sunday.(Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)