Record rainfall led to hundreds of crashes

Thursday, Feb. 13, 2003 | 11:12 a.m.

Wednesday's rainfall amount, a record for Feb. 12, contributed to hundreds of traffic accidents, including one that killed a woman and another that caused a three-hour closure of I-15, authorities said.

Wednesday's rainfall total, 0.74 of an inch, also tied the record for the third-wettest day in Las Vegas, which was set Nov. 21, 1996, National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Fuis said.

From midnight on Tuesday to 4 p.m. Wednesday, only 0.19 inches of rain fell, but the storm soaked the valley in earnest after that, Fuis said.

Rain was falling at 0.10 of an inch per hour from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, meteorologist Larry Jensen said.

The wettest day on record was July 8, 1999, when a 100-year storm flooded the Las Vegas Valley after 1.29 inches of rain deluged the area.

The valley's second-wettest day on record was 0.77 of an inch on Feb. 21, 2000.

The forecast for today calls for showers with a chance of thundershowers in the afternoon, Jensen said.

Las Vegas is not expected to dry out until late Friday.

Rain-slicked streets caused at least 250 crashes Wednesday, Metro Police and the Nevada Highway Patrol reported. Officers and troopers were still responding to multiple accidents at midnight.

The highway patrol handled 70 crashes between 10:30 p.m. Tuesday and 8 p.m. Wednesday. On a typical day troopers handle about 30 crashes.

Wednesday started with a traffic death. About 1:30 a.m., 41-year-old woman identified as Olivia Amescua of Las Vegas was trying to drive onto Highway 95 from Lake Mead Boulevard when she lost control of her car on a wet ramp and hit another vehicle head-on Wednesday morning, authorities said.

Two crashes involving semi-tractor trailer trucks shut down portions of Interstate 15. The first collision occurred about noon Wednesday when a truck hit a power pole, closing the freeway down between Flamingo Road and Sahara Avenue for about three hours starting shortly after noon.

The second truck jackknifed on I-15 near Washington Avenue about 11:15 p.m.

The Pacific storm system that brought measurable rain to Southern Nevada pummeled Southern California, delivering more than 7 inches of rain on Mount Wilson above Pasadena, the weather service said.

Until almost 9 p.m., the Spring Mountains had received more rain than snowflakes.

But late Wednesday "the snow finally started to stick," Paul Card, night manager for the Mount Charleston Lodge, said.

By 6:30 a.m., the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard resort had more than 6 inches of new snow at the bottom of the runs and as much as 10 inches at the top of the mountain. The forecast called for up to 4 inches more through the day.