Good morning! I'm Aaron Jolly. And welcome to the Washington Weather Podcast — it's Thursday, February 26th. Step outside right now and that south wind will hit you like a wake-up call. Gusts to 25 miles an hour from Puget Sound north. It's loud and it's relentless. We're at 40 degrees under clear skies. But the state's split wide open today. Puget Sound starts at 42 and climbs to 51. South Sound sits cooler at 38, topping out at 50 this afternoon. Now head east of the Cascades and it's a completely different morning. Eastern Washington wakes up to 30 degrees with a wind chill that drops it to 23. That's the kind of cold that bites. By afternoon you'll hit 47 under mostly sunny skies. Rain arrives around noon for the western lowlands. Peaks around 5 P.M. Then tapers off after midnight. Eastern Washington stays bone dry through Friday. The North  ...