For once, the heart of the storm didn’t bypass Ellis County.

At approximately 3 a.m. Thursday, a front moved in from the west bringing vicious wind and welcome precipitation.

According to early reports, rainfall measured anywhere from 1.1 inches south of Hays to 4.5 inches just northwest of Ellis.

At Eagle Radio, the gauged showed 1.8 inches. A report of 2.3 inches came in from just southwest of Hays.

The official rainfall measurement for Hays from the K-State Agricultural Research Center just south of town was 1.89 inches.

The results of the storm early Thursday morning were apparent. Along with reports of downed power lines, several tree limbs were blown over by the wind.

Across the area, Rooks and Ness counties had official reports exceeding 2 inches, while and Gove County reports ranged from .66 inches to 1.78 inches. A reporter in eastern Trego County found 4 inches of rain in the gauge Thursday morning.