First significant rain in two months leads to accidents

Thursday, Nov. 13, 2003 | 10:15 a.m.

Rain poured down in the Las Vegas Valley and snow piled up on Mount Charleston as the first hint of winter blasted through Southern Nevada on Wednesday.

Skies cleared before midnight, but there's a chance of rain today.

Today's forecast calls for clear skies and no more rain for at least the next several days, which is good news for motorists as well as public safety and utility crews.

Wednesday's rain, the first significant precipitation in the valley in 65 days, raised oil and grease on puddles in the roads. Water even forced temporary closures of some streets.

There were scores of traffic accidents around the valley on Wednesday, including one that trapped a driver who hit a power pole, downing three lines at Spencer Street and Warm Springs Road about 8:30 p.m., Metro Police said.

The driver was taken to University Medical Center with possibly life-threatening injuries, police said.

Police called Nevada Power Co. to restore electricity to a home and an office building near that southeastern Las Vegas intersection.

Earlier, 250 residential and commercial customers lost electricity when a white pickup truck struck a pole at Sunset Road and Boulder Highway, police said. It took Nevada Power crews until 9 p.m. to restore most of the electricity there.

Las Vegas Public Works crews closed Alexander Road between Maverick Street and Rancho Drive after a road improvement project combined with rain to make the road impassable. The street was to reopen when the rain stopped and the water drained.

The official rainfall for Wednesday was 0.49 of an inch, the National Weather Service reported from its gauge at McCarran International Airport.

In Clark County Regional Flood Control monitors in western Las Vegas recorded totals above half an inch.

The rain's daily total broke a record for this date. A measurement of 0.33 of an inch in 1941 was the last record. The rainfall total for this year so far is 5.78 inches. Average rainfall for this time of year is 3.89 inches.

Fortunately the rain fell gently over more than eight hours, Weather Service meteorologist Jon Adair said. The steady rain prevented valley flooding like the summer thunderstorm that flooded the northwest valley on Aug. 19.

Weather Service meteorologist Larry Jensen described the Pacific storm as "vigorous" for the Southwest's introduction to winter, but it did nothing to dent the drought in Southern Nevada for more than four years.

It was raining free drinks in a Boulder City bar Wednesday.

The sign in front of the Back Stop Sports Pub reads: "A free drink to anyone any day the sun doesn't shine in Boulder City."

And luckily for the Back Stop customers, bar owner Kurt Erick didn't see any sun on Wednesday.

It was the second day in a week Erick poured free beers for all. The sun stayed hidden behind clouds on Sunday, too, but before then the last day without sunshine in Boulder City was Feb. 25.

Typically Erick gives away beers three or four days a year. Erick said he's just keeping up a tradition that started at least 60 years ago and long before he bought the bar.

Leitha Grant, a retired teacher from Ohio who moved to Boulder City two years ago, said offering a free drink when it's cloudy is a cute promotion.

"It's a nice idea. It gives us something to talk about when it's cloudy," Grant said.

At Mount Charleston Lodge, precipitation meant lots of drink sales. More than 8 inches of fresh show had fallen outside the windows of the lodge by 7 p.m., bartender Paul Card said.

And business was booming, although the roads were slick and snowy, Card said