ELLINWOOD — It was over almost as soon as it began on Wednesday. The evening’s thunderstorm that rolled through the Golden Belt evaded other Barton County communities, but brought around two inches of rain in 20-30 minutes to the community of Ellinwood. 

The storm carried with it 70-80 mph wind gusts that did some damage, Ellinwood City Administrator Chris Komarek said Thursday.

“It wasn’t around very long, but it hit us pretty good while it was here,” Komarek noted. Komarek said that power to a couple quarters of the community was out for about 30 minutes, due to damaged primaries.

Another scattered 12-15 customers lost power due to house lead-in connection drops, he said.

City crews were out restoring power to individual residences on Thursday and were expected to be completed by the end of the day.

Along with power issues, the storm also brought down limbs and trees, which city crews will be cleaning up into next week. Komarek added that the county and Lakin Township will be assisting in the cleanup effort. 

Rain and more

Elsewhere around the Golden Belt, the after-dinner rainstorm dumped moisture with some wind Wednesday. The shower hit Pawnee County a little before 6 p.m. in two waves lasting about 30 minutes each. Moving east, the storm system threatened but brought rain to Great Bend and Hoisington, with minimal damage.

Meterologists are blaming a “massive” heat dome that developed over the Midwest following the July 4 weekend. Temperatures surpassing the century mark contributed to a “ring of fire” of high pressure, which also caused the sky to turn green in a derecho that hit Souix Falls, N.D. on Tuesday.