Rain causes slick conditions, traffic backups in Clark County

The first rain of the season hit Thursday morning, causing traffic backups on Clark County highways.

Drivers appeared to be slowing down for the wet conditions, causing some heavy backup on the arterial highways during the morning commute, said Washington State Patrol Trooper Will Finn.

“That’s what we asked people to do is to slow down, create some following distance,” Finn said. He said that dust and debris builds up on the roadways during the dry season and the first rain loosens that up, creating slick conditions.

The National Weather Service reported 0.05 inch of rain fell at Pearson Field between 6 and 10 a.m.

One weather-related crash Thursday morning was a vehicle that spun out on eastbound state Highway 14 at the ramp to northbound Interstate 205, Finn said.

On northbound I-5 just south of Woodland, a driver lost a load of fencing which caused a four-car collision, Finn said. That driver kept driving, though, so troopers are looking for witnesses to the incident to call the agency’s nonemergency number, 360-449-7900.