Burning Man Days 5-6: Burn vs. Rain

More chaos at Burning Man! Torrential rains turn Playa [saline salt basin of ancient inland sea] into [alkaline clay dust sludge] mud pit - 70,000 stranded

(Disaster Weather) Aug. 31, 2025: BLACK ROCK DESERT. What began with a sandstorm tearing apart camps [and destroying this year's Orgy Dome] and art quickly spiraled into something even worse.

Heavy rains turned the Nevada playa ("beach") into a seven-mile-wide mud pit, swallowing bikes, stranding vehicles, and forcing everyone to walk and gates to close once again.

One man was airlifted after a suspected electrocution in the flooded desert [from electrical equipment getting wet and people going barefoot], while thousands more struggled through the bone-chilling nights, abandoned bicycles, and mud-soaked shelters.

With all passenger flights grounded, cars stuck axle-deep, and festivalgoers posting desperate updates, Burning Man 2025 is being called one of the most miserable editions in its history.

[This is not an error or accident by Nature, just part of the experience that is part and parcel of Burning Man, flowing with the elements come what may.]

• More chaos at Burning Man! Torrential rains turn Playa [the saline salt basin of the ancient inland sea] into [alkaline clay dust sludge] mud pit - 70,000 stranded

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Sources:

• sfchronicle.com/entertain...
• sfgate.com/travel/burning...
• sfgate.com/travel/burning...
• sfchronicle.com/entertain...
• Escaping Normal Life; Disaster Weather, Aug. 31, 2025; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly