Given Saturday evening’s dust storms, those on the Burning Man event site consider the following night’s downpour a blessing in disguise.
If it’s not one thing, it’s another. After teams finishing up Burning Man theme camp builds were impeded by a forceful windstorm on Saturday night, Sunday evening saw Nevada‘s Black Rock Desert awash from a rainstorm that calls to mind headlines that circulated amid 2023’s unprecedented flash flood.
Around 6pm on Sunday, the gate into Burning Man was closed on account of muddy conditions arising from a downpour. As any longtime Burner can attest, the alkaline dust of the playa acts almost like concrete when wet, forming dense clumps that stop most vehicles in their tracks. As a result, entry wait times grew as long as 16 hours, and first-day arrivals in nearby cities like Reno and Fernley were advised to stay put until conditions improved.
On some level, the rainstorm surely complicated things for many attending Burning Man 2025. But given the condition of the playa in the days leading up to the storm, it may have been the best thing that could have happened.
Dry or Wet Playa: Which is Worse?
It wasn’t simply gusts that made Saturday night’s windstorm destroy yurts, shade structures, and even the famous “Black Cloud” installation. The dust coating the surface of the dry lakebed acts as a force multiplier — and this year, it was much looser, making it more prone to being swept up by the tempest.
This is due to the Black Rock Desert receiving markedly lower precipitation than usual in 2025. Its surface, usually rigid and scaly, was soft and brittle when build teams arrived in the week leading up to the event. Many experienced Burners on site advised later arrivals to bring longer lag screws than usual for the purposes of securing tents and structures.
The rain had let up by 1:30am, according to a Burning Man Project statement, which noted at the time that “The ground is already starting to dry up, and we’re assessing conditions at the Gate.” This means it was far less disruptive than the 2023 flash flood, which itself was less eventful than international news stories made it out to be. If anything, Sunday night’s showers will cut down airborne particulates, making a repeat of Saturday night’s dust storm far less likely.
Will the rain continue during Burning Man?
Weather forecasts acknowledge the possibility of similar showers through Wednesday, to be sure. If these continue on a daily basis, they will undoubtedly derail activities scheduled by various theme camps, which have already suffered delays on account of the dust storm.
But as any Burner will tell you, that’s simply an opportunity to practice immediacy and not be bound to any expectations you had going into the event. For the time being, at least, the rain has mostly offered an oasis of sorts for build crews pushed to their physical limits by the events of the previous evening.
The gate to Burning Man reopened at 7:30am. Find the most recent updates pertaining to the event on the BRC Dashboard.
