Flash floods close Tonopah roads as town breaks daily rain record
Debris from flash flooding partially closed North Main Street in Tonopah briefly on Tuesday evening.
The Nye County Sheriff’s Office issued an alert about 6:50 p.m. urging drivers to exercise caution downtown because water was over the southbound lanes.
Nevada Department of Transportation crews had cleared most of the debris by 8 p.m. and reopened the road.
About 3 feet of roadway washed out at U.S. 95 near mile marker 49, according to reports from the sheriff’s office.
U.S. 6 at State Route 376 was not passable for more than an hour on Tuesday night after heavy rains caused flooding and damage, the sheriff’s office reported.
“Been some wild weather the last week or two, but I mean, at least they aren’t high temperature records this time, am I right?” a spokesperson for the National Weather Service out of Ely posted on Facebook on Tuesday evening.
Tonopah rainfall for Tuesday was .1 inch, according to NWS data, which beat the town’s daily record of .07 inch set on Sept. 13, 2013.
The average rainfall for Tonopah in September is less than a quarter inch.
A flood watch continued through Wednesday morning and scattered storms were expected through the day.
Contact editor Brent Schanding at bschanding@pvtimes.com.
