Morning rain ends valley’s dry spell

Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2002 | 11:16 a.m.

A soft rain fell on the Las Vegas Valley in the predawn hours today, ending a 55-day spell of nearly dry weather during which clouds brought the promise of relief but left little more than a few hundredths of an inch of moisture.

Just over one-quarter of an inch was recorded at McCarran International Airport, bringing the year's total to 0.89 inches. The last time Las Vegas had as much rain was July 17, when just over half an inch fell, though a few hundredths of an inch fell last week, National Weather Service meteorologist Charlie Schlott said.

"It reminded us that it does rain here," Schlott said.

The showers moved in about 3:30 this morning with a thunderstorm, and stuck around until shortly after 5.

But the precipitation, which came in with a low-pressure system from Southern California, didn't touch all parts of the valley equally. Red Rock Canyon received only three-hundredths of an inch, Schlott said.

The rain caused numerous accidents this morning on the highways, forcing the Nevada Highway Patrol to call troopers in early. Most of the accidents were fender-benders, with the most serious one occurring early this morning, when a double tractor-trailer overturned on Interstate 15 over D Street.

Traffic was diverted off I-15 at D Street, then back onto the highway, Trooper Jim Olschlager, a highway patrol spokesman, said. There were only minor injuries.

Since it rains so infrequently in Southern Nevada, Olschlager said people forget how to drive in it.

"Most of the accidents are caused by people not giving themselves enough room," he said. "They think they can still hang five feet off the bumper (of the car in front of them) and will still be able to stop. People need to leave more space between themselves and the car in front of them and slow down."

Rain causes the added problem of stirring up the oil in the asphalt, making the roadways even slicker, he said.

Margaret Klein, master gardener program coordinator for the University of Nevada, Reno, Cooperative Extention, said the rain should help area yards a little, but it won't end the current drought.

"Landscapes really have been suffering this season," she said. "If you've been watering every day, you could take one or two days off, but it's not enough to build up that water table."