Light rain cools off LV Valley

Art Nadler and Jerry Fink

Wednesday, June 2, 1999 | 11:44 a.m.

Early morning rain cooled off summer temperatures in the Las Vegas Valley but left only eight one-hundredths of an inch of moisture behind, the National Weather Service reported this morning.

The 0.08 level was recorded at the weather service's official reporting station at McCarran International Airport, but the southwest part of the county received more, weather service forecaster Dave Kosier said. And in Jean, 25 miles south of Las Vegas, one-third of an inch of rain was recorded.

The weather service has recorded just under an inch of rain in Southern Nevada this year, but, Kosier noted, June is usually the driest month of the year.

Some minor flooding was reported at Callville Bay on Lake Mead and in the northwest part of Las Vegas, he said.

A low-pressure front off the coast of Southern California slipped into Clark County at 3 a.m. and is expected to move out of Southern Nevada later today. However, skies should remain partly cloudy through Thursday and temperatures will remain on the cool side, the weather service forecasts.

Another low-pressure area headed into Clark County on Friday is expected to bring heavy showers, Kosier said.

The rain and cooler temperatures also reached into southern Lincoln County and helped firefighters battle wildfires that have burned more than 10,000 acres. The fires were 90 percent under control this morning and should be out by 6 p.m., a spokesman for the National Park Service said.

Park Service spokeswoman Heidi Netzler said firefighting crews are being released from the fires that were sparked Friday by a lightning strike in the remote Blue Garden area of Lincoln County, about 85 miles northeast of Las Vegas.

In Clark County, rush-hour traffic was hampered by the rain. Metro Police recorded 47 accidents between 5:30 a.m. and 10 a.m., and three more reported incidents were waiting for officers to arrive.

Sgt. Tracy McDonald said there were four accidents at the intersection of Sahara Avenue and Rainbow Boulevard.

Nevada Highway Patrol troopers responded to four accidents during the morning rush hour, spokesman Sgt. Scott Flabi said.

"Usually when we have rain traffic accidents explode," Flabi said. "This is unusual. People must be driving a little more sensibly."