10 accidents in Washoe Valley this morning

Ten accidents were investigated during the morning commute today on southbound Highway 395 in the Washoe Valley.

Trooper Chuck Allen said that although dense and freezing fog were some of the factors contributing to the crashes, several motorists continued to travel at speeds too fast for the conditions.

"One trooper at the accident scene told me he clocked several vehicles at 65 to 70 mph in very heavy fog as he was responding to the area," said Allen.

Heavy fog near the Bellevue Bridge interchange had visibility limited to around 100 feet.

Five of this morning's accidents involved injuries, none were reported as being serious, while the other five were property damage only.

Because of the calls for service, which were initiated around 6:43 am, southbound traffic was re-routed onto Old US 395, around 7:30 am.

The detour was in place until about 10 a.m.

"Driving in fog - especially extremely dense fog - has to be one of the most challenging and frightening times as motorists. We really need to pay attention 110 percent of the time, limit our distractions completely, and turn on our vehicle's lights and sometime our 4-way flashers, just to provide additional illumination to other motorists," said Allen. "Also, if you are pulling out into traffic after being stopped on the right shoulder or emergency lane for any reason; accelerate on the shoulder for a short distance before merging from the emergency lane to the travel lane."

According to the National Weather Service, tonight's forecast calls for patchy freezing fog after 8 p.m. Increasing clouds, with a low around 19 degrees.

Tomorrow sees a chance of rain after 10 a.m. with snow at 5,400 feet. The high is expected to be near 41.

Tuesday night rain and snow is likely at 5,200 feet. Little or no snow accumulation expected.