9/4/2009
DUANE SCHRAG
GYPSUM — A thunderstorm early Friday morning dumped up to 4 inches of rain in eastern Saline County, pushing Gypsum Creek over Kansas Highway 4.
Barricades were put up on the highway at Gypsum around 9 a.m. The National Weather Service predicted the creek will crest at 18.6 feet, 3.6 feet above flood stage, around 7 p.m.
Weather service precipitation charts show a band of intense rain — much of it in the 3 to 4 inch range — that stretched from Minneapolis down to Marion. The heaviest rainfall was in Marion County.
Overnight rainfall at the Salina airport was 0.78 inch.
The U.S. Geological Survey gauge on Gypsum Creek near Gypsum shows that between 4 and 7 a.m. the creek rose 8.5 feet.
Weather service predictions show Gypsum Creek falling below K-4 by 7 a.m. Saturday.
For more on Salina weather, see Saturday's Salina Journal.