Jeremy Gaston/Herald-Chronicle

Jeremy Gaston | Reporter

As the old saying goes – if you don’t like the weather in Kansas, wait five minutes. Or drive five miles to the east.

Spring got started just a couple days after the equinox, bringing high winds throughout the day Monday, and stationary storms in the evening.

A slow-moving front inundated the northwest corner of the county, dropping around three inches of rain around Burlingame and Auburn in a matter of hours overnight. Area creeks responded by cresting above their flood stages Tuesday afternoon.

In Burlingame, Switzler Creek crested just feet away from overflowing the railroad underpass on the east side of town.

South of Burlingame, Dragoon Creek rose to just over 20 feet, surging past its previous height of 8 feet and clearing the flood stage at 18 feet. According to the United State Geological Survey Web site, the creek’s average discharge is around 20 cubic feet per second in March. At 2 p.m. Tuesday, it measured by the USGS at 6,130 ft3/sec.

Strong winds were a nuisance early this week, as gusts in excess of 60 mph battered much of the area.

In Osage City, a blown tree reportedly clipped a power line in the 400 block of Ellinwood, but the damage was less than reported.

“It was resting on a cable line,” said Dennis Combes, Osage City electric line supervisor. “We were afraid it would bring down the pole, so we cut it off.”

In most areas, damage was limited to signs, branches, shingle/roof damage and small outbuildings.

Winds were officially measured at 65 mph in the area. A Kansas State University station recorded a gust at 91 mph just south of Manhattan at 5 p.m.

Severe weather was still a threat as the line of storms reached Osage County around midnight. A trained spotter recorded one-inch hail in the northeast part of the county, three miles southwest of Auburn.

Other parts of the county were mostly untouched by the storms. Rain gauges at Pomona and Melvern lakes each read less than one-quarter of an inch.

Storms are forecast for the rest of the week, with rain giving way to snow on Friday and Saturday.