Rainy weather plays havoc with Las Vegas Valley traffic

As of Wednesday afternoon, a rainy Las Vegas Valley had seen twice the amount of crashes it would on a dry day, according to the Nevada Highway Patrol.

The Highway Patrol responded to 111 crashes between 4 a.m. and about 3:30 p.m., according to spokesman Jason Buratczuk. Of those crashes, 78 were property damage, 28 crashes caused injuries and five were hit-and-runs.

No one was critically injured in the crashes, he said.

“This number is more then double the normal amount of crashes we work on a normal day with no rain,” Buratczuk said in an email Wednesday afternoon. “This number will probably increase with the evening rush and the wet roads.”

At least three crashes were inside and around the airport connectors near McCarran International Airport on Wednesday morning, causing traffic tie-ups.

The Regional Transportation Commission reported the crashes about 6:45 a.m.

At 8:15 a.m., Metropolitan Police Department Lt. David Gordon said all southbound lanes from the airport were blocked. He said he did not believe any injuries were serious.

Those lanes reopened shortly after 9 a.m.

A three-vehicle crash at 8:20 a.m. at Las Vegas and Silverado Ranch boulevards sent three people to various hospitals, according to Metro. Impairment was suspected in the crash, police said.

Contact Glenn Puit at gpuit@review-journal.com or 702-383-0390. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Katelyn Newberg contributed to this report.