Rainfall picks its spots in visit to Toledo area

A pickup game of basketball became a wet one of 'waterball' for this trio of North Toledo youngsters after yesterday's rain. Michael Lowry, 13, Emeka Okonkwo, and John Lowry, 14, from left, splash their way through water on Superior Street.

Heavy rain last night contributed to a two-vehicle crash in Rossford that killed a Toledo woman and hurt three other people, authorities said.

Evelyn Carpenter, 44, of 2531 Consaul St., was pronounced dead at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center about 40 minutes after the crash, which occurred at 6:35 p.m.

Joseph Kidwell, 21, of the Consaul address, was in serious condition in St. Vincent, and Shannon Denny, 20, of Indianapolis, who was staying at the Consaul address, was in fair condition in St. Vincent.

William Ohls, 61, of Perrysburg Township, was taken to St. Luke's Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, the Ohio Highway Patrol said.

Mr. Kidwell was driving a minivan east on State Rt. 795 when the rain reduced visibility and he failed to stop for a red light at Lime City Road, troopers said. The minivan struck Mr. Ohls' car, which was southbound on Lime City.

Ms. Carpenter, who was in the rear of the minivan and not wearing a seat belt, was thrown from the vehicle. All three others involved in the crash wore seat belts, troopers said.

Meanwhile, as the sky darkened, lightning flashed, thunder rumbled, and rain fell last night, farmers and gardeners who got even a little moisture were pleased.

Rainfall amounts varied widely across northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan - almost all of which has been dry.

Up to 3 inches of rain fell in a few localized areas, such as spots in southern Monroe County and along parts of the Lucas-Fulton County line, according to the National Weather Service.

Flood advisories were issued for Lucas and Wood counties.

But not far away, the rainfall totaled less than a half-inch. Among those spots was downtown Toledo, with 0.32 of an inch.

The story was similar in central Fulton County, where Craig Myers has 900 acres of corn and soybeans that were sorely in need of rain.

His land in Clinton and Dover townships got about 0.4 of an inch of rain, he estimated. He would have liked six times that much.

"We could make 2 1/2 inches disappear real fast," he said.

Some of his corn, he fears, already has been too dry for too long to produce a harvest.

But for the rest of his crops, the 0.4 of an inch will buy crucial time, even if it's not enough to be a lifesaver.

"I'm just tickled to get every drop that we get," he said.

At Toledo Express Airport, the coming cold front brought 1.33 inches of rain by mid evening. It was the first significant rainfall there in 24 days. On June 3, the airport got just over an inch.

Last night's rain came close to halving the moisture deficit for this year at the airport.

Before last night's showers, the airport had received 14.05 inches this year. That was 2.21 inches below the normal of 16.26 inches for this time, according to the National Weather Service.

But south of Toledo, some areas were left out of the rainfall. Among those were Defiance, which received only a trace, and Findlay, which got nothing.

A wind gust of 60 mph was reported at 6:20 p.m. in the Toledo area by a weather service-trained spotter.

In some areas - such as Pioneer in Williams County - the storm felled heavy tree limbs.

About 9,000 Toledo Edison customers were without electrical power early in the evening, a utility spokesman said. By 10:30 p.m., the number was under 4,000. As of 6:30 a.m. Thursday morning, power was restored to all but 6 Toledo Edison customers. A Toledo Edison spokesperson said that power is expected to be restored by the afternoon.