Remember back when climate change was going to cause eternal drought?
Burning Man Shut Down Due to Heavy Rain, Stranding Attendees
“Conserve food, water, and fuel, and shelter in a warm, safe space,” organizers say after a half-inch of rainfall turns the Nevada desert into a muddy mess
A HALF-INCH OF rain has created chaos at this year’s Burning Man festival as thousands of stranded attendees have been told to shelter in place and conserve resources after the Nevada desert turned into a muddy mess.
As a result of the rainfall — with another quarter-inch downpour from thunderstorms expected through the weekend — the roads into and out of Black Rock City where the desert festival is held have been closed for the remainder of Burning Man, and area airports have also temporarily closed due to the wet weather conditions. Thousands of festivalgoers, essentially, are stuck there in the mud.
Planning to run naked through the mud, “everyone’s talking about it”.
Climate jokes aside, the situation for trapped Burning Man participants could be about to become a lot more serious. According to Rolling Stone, more rain is forecast, including possible thunderstorms. I hope everyone gets out safely. There are vehicles which can handle a bit of desert mud, large float helicopters might be able to handle landing in the mud, perhaps providing someone pegs a tarpaulin down over the landing area, and four wheel drive vehicles driven by experienced drivers who know to partly deflate the tires when crossing difficult terrain might be able to handle the mud. Snow chains can also help with traction on mud.
Given the weather forecast, I hope the organisers are doing what they can to provide participants with an emergency evacuation, should that become necessary.
Burning Man featured a few days ago in WUWT, when tribal rangers smashed a green road block in the Nevada desert.
If electrocuted, that’s sad. Their co-attendees should loudly eulogize them for laying down their lives to “save the planet.” Tragic, since the planet doesn’t need saving and we humans NEVER could in any way save Earth from ANYTHING.
Our beautiful blue planet is in dire need of saving; from being turned into a naked ball of ice with too little CO2 for plants and most other life to survive! If the current trends continue this will occur during the next handful of periods of glacial onset; probably 1-2,000,000 years out.
The only hope is for an intelligent life form to develop that cares about preserving life on Earth. Right now, judging from GangGreens beliefs and claims, there is little chance of enough intelligence OR caring developing!
On a somewhat related note, Edwards Air Force base was located where it is as the dry lake bed made for a large and very forgiving landing area. The base does take rain into account, as the typical two months per year soaking helps in keeping the lake bed smooth.
As a knowing-meteorologist of the pattern, it was fairly well advertised there would be SHRA/TSRA this weekend. For many days out. While scattered and could have missed them locally, the chances were pretty good.
Richard Page
September 3, 2023 6:22 pm
It doesn’t appear to be deep mud just thick gluey mud that is causing impassable conditions for wheeled vehicles. As I pointed out on another post, quite a few people (including Chris Rock) walked the 8 miles to the nearest road and got lifts out of the area. Toilets appear to be a priority as the vehicle that empties the portaloos can’t get through the gluey mud.
I grew in a house that was 4 miles from the nearest bus, shop and worst of all pub. I walked or cycled those 4 miles once or twice a day on many occassions and in all kinds of weather conditions and sometimes got caught in some nasty conditions. The worst were sleet and cold rain in windy conditions.
Doing it in mud would be no joke but by no means impossible
It doesn’t look like particularly bad mud, it’s not even picking up much. The clip I watched said that 4wds were getting out, but the unspecified authorities had banned that.Trying to get lots of vehicles out would cut it up badly, and a 2wd on road tyres wouldn’t have much chance.
.
Rather than trying to get people out, just bring additional supplies in with a few ex-army 6×6 trucks. It seems their biggest problem is that the portable toilets need to be pumped out, but the trucks can’t get in.
It seems to have been a tempest in a tea cup. The roads are open again, so they were only stuck for a day or so when they were going to be there anyway.
There was much ado on the news this morning about receiving at least a month’s rain in 2 days. That’s how it works in highly variable rainfall areas – you get the occasional storm. In this case, it was about an inch total.
I haven’t seen the term “gumbo” used for this, but it is a soil type known for difficulty if one tries to cross it when it is well wetted.
I’ve been in it a few times.
slippery gooey and thick. Like gravy with too much flour!
Len Werner
September 3, 2023 6:46 pm
Think ‘Bentonite’, like along the Waterpocket Fold in Utah, or that over which the Dinosaur National Monument visitor centre began to sink. If you’ve ever experienced it, you’ll know. All desert-dueling 4X4’s will be stationary no matter how much noise they make or how deflated their tires are. The drivers will be equally deflated.
Have experienced driving on wet Bentonite in Utah and the US Four Corners. Depth of this clay makes no difference. Most capable 4×4’s no help. Perhaps the slickest “snot” known to man?
CO2-induced Climate Change causes:
-Floods AND droughts
-Heatwaves AND cold spells
-Too much wind AND too little wind
-Boiling oceans AND ice ages
-Algal blooms AND primary productivity collapse
-Overpopulation AND human extinction
etc. etc.
If your model expects, predicts, and explains every possibility, it is actually predicting and explaining nothing.
I recall very clearly being told that climate change will make wet areas wetter and dry areas dryer. All the models say so. So clearly the Black Rock desert must be a wet area. — What? New info just in — climate changes makes dry areas wet and wet areas dry. All the models say so.
By the way 1/4 inch of rain is hardly a down pour. You need at least an inch or 2 like Death Valley got from Hilary.
Since that 0.25″ was measure at a pinpoint where a gauge was located, it could have been 0.50″ or more a short distance away. Convective cells like to do that.
One of the reports I heard said there was half an inch in the first fall, with another 25 points in a little scud (paraphrased, they probably said torrential rain) the next day.
Recognise almost any farmer’s field after the maize/corn harvester has been through?
Or where the ‘Biomass harvesters‘ have been through gathering fodder for Drax? Recognise soil erosion – 4 and 5,000 years ago that place was a rain-forest.
Yes ‘the climate changed‘ but it was not the position of the stars, numbers of spot spots or amounts of phlogiston that brought on that change.
Jeez how bad is that: They are talking literally just a few millimetres of rain, in total, caused that.
Healthy soils can and do absorb 2 inches of rain before they even feel damp
Not just 2 inches, 2 inches per foot depth of soil and as any decent patch of dirt should be 5 or 6 feet deep – you work it out.
To witness that level of destruction is bad enough, but that so many really/vehemently/actually believe it to be ‘natural variation‘ is what really breaks your heart.
The stupid really does burn – at haha Burning Man – it’s hard to have any sympathy whatsoever
Soil erosion in the Nevada desert? It’s a dried up lake bed that never had an outlet. All the mud you see was eroded from surrounding mountains and deposited there. And it’s never been cultivated, so don’t go on about nutrient depletion.
Think before you rant. Learn some geography and button up. Your ignorance is showing today.
BTW, if that “place” was ever a rain forest, that time was 100’s of millions of years ago.
For the last few 100 thousand years it’s been alternating between desert and lake.
Yes. Delaying the start of Burning Man last week due to rains from ‘Hillary’ could have been a clue that a dried up lake bed might not be the best location either!
Wait until there is record cold. Then the narrative becomes “It’s just weather which is different”, or “The climate heating in the Arctic pushed the polar vortex south which is more evidence of climate change”.
Jimbobla
September 4, 2023 1:44 am
Alkaline clay is gonna be a problem. Think bleach. Think about being soaked with bleach water for days. Burning People should be the new name for that festival.
Rod Evans
September 4, 2023 2:45 am
You call that mud!! you have never been to Glastonbury or a formula! meeting at Silverstone in April. They only did that once, if you look up the pictures you will understand. Even the caterpillar tracked tractors called in to pull the parked cars out got stuck in the mud.
Barely made it out. Had to use a jacket under one wheel.
strativarius
September 4, 2023 5:48 am
In future preparatory classes for muddy venues should be held at Glastonbury.
It’s perfect. Only the well to do can afford gigs like that nowadays, so no danger of riff raff.
JD Daily
September 4, 2023 2:27 pm
The soil in the Playa is a very fin dust that is more than a few feet deep. When wet it turns into inorganic grease. It also isn’t very permeable. Puddles form which only dry by evaporation. To navigate in a vehicle in the spring when the mud is deep you need to have low ground pressure to not get stuck up to the body of the vehicle. The mud know only requires wide 4 wheel drive tires on a 4×4 or drop the tire pressure on the tires to 10 PSI. This works on ice too.
cosmicwxdude
September 4, 2023 2:32 pm
Yeesh, that ‘gal’ in the twitterX feed of herself could use a little of that cream that gets rid of bags under your eyes tempo….eek. I did not realize this was way up in NW NV. Yeah, it can get chilly there with a little trof passage as is occurring this weekend. Only in the 60s there currently. While I am baking here at MSP with 98F! lol
Trapped in a dry lake bed in a desert
They might need food air dropped as, according to the Mud Man inflate-A-dude…NOTHING FOR SALE
Somehow, a couple of attendees managed to electrocute themselves. Generators should be kept dry.
ELECTROCUTE 😲
Or, “shocked” 😉
If electrocuted, that’s sad. Their co-attendees should loudly eulogize them for laying down their lives to “save the planet.” Tragic, since the planet doesn’t need saving and we humans NEVER could in any way save Earth from ANYTHING.
Can’t seem to edet. 🙂
No doubt, WordPress shrieked at you:
“Slow down! You’re posting to quickly.”
😃
Too. 🫢
Our beautiful blue planet is in dire need of saving; from being turned into a naked ball of ice with too little CO2 for plants and most other life to survive! If the current trends continue this will occur during the next handful of periods of glacial onset; probably 1-2,000,000 years out.
The only hope is for an intelligent life form to develop that cares about preserving life on Earth. Right now, judging from GangGreens beliefs and claims, there is little chance of enough intelligence OR caring developing!
I’m certain that a few dozen Gas and Diesel powered Hummers would allow for a successful evacuation
Brings a whole new meaning to “burning man”
No, trapped in a wet lake bed.
As they are wont to do occasionally
The minor little fact that a dry lake bed is usually dry ignores the term “usually”.
Exactly.
On a somewhat related note, Edwards Air Force base was located where it is as the dry lake bed made for a large and very forgiving landing area. The base does take rain into account, as the typical two months per year soaking helps in keeping the lake bed smooth.
The problem is the organizers had no plans on what to do if it rained.
Same as wildfire in Maui, shelter in place (at least that’s what tourists said).
A PC euphemism for “panic and freeze”
Surprised they didn’t tell them to mask-up and get a covidshot.
As a knowing-meteorologist of the pattern, it was fairly well advertised there would be SHRA/TSRA this weekend. For many days out. While scattered and could have missed them locally, the chances were pretty good.
It doesn’t appear to be deep mud just thick gluey mud that is causing impassable conditions for wheeled vehicles. As I pointed out on another post, quite a few people (including Chris Rock) walked the 8 miles to the nearest road and got lifts out of the area. Toilets appear to be a priority as the vehicle that empties the portaloos can’t get through the gluey mud.
Sorry, apparently it’s 6 miles to the nearest road.
This report says 5 miles. Either way, walking in mud is not fun.
I grew in a house that was 4 miles from the nearest bus, shop and worst of all pub. I walked or cycled those 4 miles once or twice a day on many occassions and in all kinds of weather conditions and sometimes got caught in some nasty conditions. The worst were sleet and cold rain in windy conditions.
Doing it in mud would be no joke but by no means impossible
Fun!
An air dropped desiccant might be desirable
I was thinking that a temporary road surface in the form of mats could be put down. Wasn’t something like that used in Iraq and Afghanistan?
Something like Marston mats?
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/these-portable-runways-helped-win-war-pacific-180951234/
It doesn’t look like particularly bad mud, it’s not even picking up much. The clip I watched said that 4wds were getting out, but the unspecified authorities had banned that.Trying to get lots of vehicles out would cut it up badly, and a 2wd on road tyres wouldn’t have much chance.
.
Rather than trying to get people out, just bring additional supplies in with a few ex-army 6×6 trucks. It seems their biggest problem is that the portable toilets need to be pumped out, but the trucks can’t get in.
Try helicopters to remove/replace the loos.
And hope there isn’t too much spillage ! 😉
Helicopters would be good if you have plenty of money. The 6×6 ex-army trucks would be cheaper.
The spillage really would be like having a squadron of pigs fly over 😉
Bring in a fleet of Gas/Diesel Hummers to evacuate them. Hummers drive over most anything.
It seems to have been a tempest in a tea cup. The roads are open again, so they were only stuck for a day or so when they were going to be there anyway.
There was much ado on the news this morning about receiving at least a month’s rain in 2 days. That’s how it works in highly variable rainfall areas – you get the occasional storm. In this case, it was about an inch total.
But the idiots on the NEWS and their cohorts likely played it as an ‘extreme event’ and the only cause…you guessed it. Ijiots.
We would love an inch of rain here in South Dakota.
You and me both. 2″ would be better – it would really get the feed away now that it’s starting to warm up.
Sure you didn’t mean deodorant?
I haven’t seen the term “gumbo” used for this, but it is a soil type known for difficulty if one tries to cross it when it is well wetted.
I’ve been in it a few times.
Dried up lake beds are notorious for this type of mud – the kind that clogs up wheel arches and immobilises vehicles!
slippery gooey and thick. Like gravy with too much flour!
Think ‘Bentonite’, like along the Waterpocket Fold in Utah, or that over which the Dinosaur National Monument visitor centre began to sink. If you’ve ever experienced it, you’ll know. All desert-dueling 4X4’s will be stationary no matter how much noise they make or how deflated their tires are. The drivers will be equally deflated.
Alkaline clay absorbs a lot of CO2, interestingly.
Have experienced driving on wet Bentonite in Utah and the US Four Corners. Depth of this clay makes no difference. Most capable 4×4’s no help. Perhaps the slickest “snot” known to man?
Pierre shale is just as nasty. Central South Dakota.
More “proof” of AGW. Just wait.
Goes without saying for the leftist-marxist-naive-NEWSIE pukes. And the GOVT sloths.
CO2-induced Climate Change causes:
-Floods AND droughts
-Heatwaves AND cold spells
-Too much wind AND too little wind
-Boiling oceans AND ice ages
-Algal blooms AND primary productivity collapse
-Overpopulation AND human extinction
etc. etc.
If your model expects, predicts, and explains every possibility, it is actually predicting and explaining nothing.
I recall very clearly being told that climate change will make wet areas wetter and dry areas dryer. All the models say so. So clearly the Black Rock desert must be a wet area. — What? New info just in — climate changes makes dry areas wet and wet areas dry. All the models say so.
By the way 1/4 inch of rain is hardly a down pour. You need at least an inch or 2 like Death Valley got from Hilary.
Since that 0.25″ was measure at a pinpoint where a gauge was located, it could have been 0.50″ or more a short distance away. Convective cells like to do that.
One of the reports I heard said there was half an inch in the first fall, with another 25 points in a little scud (paraphrased, they probably said torrential rain) the next day.
Yes – but the MSM will love it!
So much for the claim that too much rain is never a problem.
Writer Ivan Doig had a way with words, “Too much rain would almost be enough.”
I miss his wisdom. This is not the rain but the clay..
Recognise almost any farmer’s field after the maize/corn harvester has been through?
Or where the ‘Biomass harvesters‘ have been through gathering fodder for Drax?
Recognise soil erosion – 4 and 5,000 years ago that place was a rain-forest.
Yes ‘the climate changed‘ but it was not the position of the stars, numbers of spot spots or amounts of phlogiston that brought on that change.
Jeez how bad is that: They are talking literally just a few millimetres of rain, in total, caused that.
Healthy soils can and do absorb 2 inches of rain before they even feel damp
Not just 2 inches, 2 inches per foot depth of soil and as any decent patch of dirt should be 5 or 6 feet deep – you work it out.
To witness that level of destruction is bad enough, but that so many really/vehemently/actually believe it to be ‘natural variation‘ is what really breaks your heart.
The stupid really does burn – at haha Burning Man – it’s hard to have any sympathy whatsoever
Soil erosion in the Nevada desert? It’s a dried up lake bed that never had an outlet. All the mud you see was eroded from surrounding mountains and deposited there. And it’s never been cultivated, so don’t go on about nutrient depletion.
Think before you rant. Learn some geography and button up. Your ignorance is showing today.
In your opinion, all soils are supposed to be identical?
BTW, if that “place” was ever a rain forest, that time was 100’s of millions of years ago.
For the last few 100 thousand years it’s been alternating between desert and lake.
I guess it really bites when
climate changeweather hits people unexpectedly.Oh well . . . let’s all unite to fight weather change . . . you know, given the existential threat that it now represents to Burning Man.
Keepin’ it real for yuppies cosplaying homeless people.
cultural misappropriation
Financial misappropriation!
Carefully orchestrated spontaneity.
“Being trapped at Burning Man seems almost as bad as being trapped in a conversation with someone who went to Burning Man”
Self-inflicted, First World problem.
Somebody did not do a proper risk assessment.
That would be, looking at a weather forecast.
Yes. Delaying the start of Burning Man last week due to rains from ‘Hillary’ could have been a clue that a dried up lake bed might not be the best location either!
Someday people will understand the distinction between climate change and a change in the weather. However, I’m not holding my breath while waiting.
Wait until there is record cold. Then the narrative becomes “It’s just weather which is different”, or “The climate heating in the Arctic pushed the polar vortex south which is more evidence of climate change”.
Alkaline clay is gonna be a problem. Think bleach. Think about being soaked with bleach water for days. Burning People should be the new name for that festival.
You call that mud!! you have never been to Glastonbury or a formula! meeting at Silverstone in April. They only did that once, if you look up the pictures you will understand. Even the caterpillar tracked tractors called in to pull the parked cars out got stuck in the mud.
Knebworth in May
Barely made it out. Had to use a jacket under one wheel.
In future preparatory classes for muddy venues should be held at Glastonbury.
It’s perfect. Only the well to do can afford gigs like that nowadays, so no danger of riff raff.
The soil in the Playa is a very fin dust that is more than a few feet deep. When wet it turns into inorganic grease. It also isn’t very permeable. Puddles form which only dry by evaporation. To navigate in a vehicle in the spring when the mud is deep you need to have low ground pressure to not get stuck up to the body of the vehicle. The mud know only requires wide 4 wheel drive tires on a 4×4 or drop the tire pressure on the tires to 10 PSI. This works on ice too.
Yeesh, that ‘gal’ in the twitterX feed of herself could use a little of that cream that gets rid of bags under your eyes tempo….eek. I did not realize this was way up in NW NV. Yeah, it can get chilly there with a little trof passage as is occurring this weekend. Only in the 60s there currently. While I am baking here at MSP with 98F! lol
The story I read in the WSJ 30 or so years, I swear had the Burning Man on the beach