Aug 16 report on playa conditions and temps

phil · Post by **phil** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 10:43 am

I got an email today purporting to tell about playa conditions: plenty of crumbly raised dunes throughout the city and on Gate Road. The past few days have had highs of a hundred or higher.

I have no idea what any of this means - just passing it on. The weather in the past is a guide but no predictor of weather in the future.

trystanthegypsy · Post by **trystanthegypsy** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 11:01 am

uggh dunes are icky

phil · Post by **phil** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 11:14 am

Yeah it sucks hitting them at night when you don't see them coming.

Gage · Post by **Gage** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 11:19 am

* note to self - less emphasis on bike and more emphasis on my chevrolegs & attire.

It also sounds like the city was moved north this year. We have a campmate who is helping with the Temple build, and I just read an email confirming that the deep playa is soft, so bring some fat/phat tires. Temps in the 100's, but nice at night (not as cold as usual).

junglesmacks · Post by **junglesmacks** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 11:34 am

They are having a heat wave now, yes.. but.. a cold spell is forecast to come in right at the beginning of the burn..

http://www.accuweather.com/us/nv/gerlac ... =8-01-2010

It's looking like highs in the upper 70s and lows in the lower 40s right now..

lucky420 · Post by **lucky420** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 12:29 pm

that would be damn near perfect

phil · Post by **phil** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 12:53 pm

> It's looking like highs in the upper 70s and lows in the lower 40s
> right now..

I'd be happy.

Token · Post by **Token** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 12:55 pm

junglesmacks wrote:They are having a heat wave now, yes.. but.. a cold spell is forecast to come in right at the beginning of the burn..

http://www.accuweather.com/us/nv/gerlac ... =8-01-2010

It's looking like highs in the upper 70s and lows in the lower 40s right now..

The problem with Acuweather; they use the same NOAA 7 day data, of which only three days worth are reliable, just like everyone else.

After that they just forecast the 100 year average as placeholders.

DO NOT count any forcast past 5 or 7 days.

Be prepared for every possibility. Hot is easy, you remove clothes. Cold and windy is a bitch on the Playa. Froze my jewels off more than once.

Token · Post by **Token** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 1:03 pm

Also of note, the closest official weather station for the Gerlach area that is not mounted on a mountain peek is Lovelock, NV.

You are much better off looking at the amateur MADIS station on the Gerlach water tower.

http://www.burningman.com/preparation/e ... ather.html

Or the 7 day running data my buddy Bryan keeps stashed on his server:

Dynamic link, will update real-time-ish. (minutes)

junglesmacks · Post by **junglesmacks** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 1:23 pm

Token wrote:
junglesmacks wrote:They are having a heat wave now, yes.. but.. a cold spell is forecast to come in right at the beginning of the burn..

http://www.accuweather.com/us/nv/gerlac ... =8-01-2010

It's looking like highs in the upper 70s and lows in the lower 40s right now..
The problem with Acuweather; they use the same NOAA 7 day data, of which only three days worth are reliable, just like everyone else.

After that they just forecast the 100 year average as placeholders.

DO NOT count any forcast past 5 or 7 days.

Be prepared for every possibility. Hot is easy, you remove clothes. Cold and windy is a bitch on the Playa. Froze my jewels off more than once.

I dunno.. Accuweather as far as temp changes has been pretty accurate for me. Their modeling seems to be superior with regards to temps over weather.com. I compare the two often here in FL, as I despise cold weather. I watch the forecasts like a hawk in the winter time and have noticed that they seem to usually be within a 3 degree +/-. Even if it's not totally right, I'll bet you that week there will be a noticeable cooling off.

On another note, are you saying that the Lovelock, NV weather info is a better gauge than the Gerlach, NV location?

junglesmacks · Post by **junglesmacks** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 1:29 pm

Fresh pics from Aug 15.. day before yesterday.

Just_Joe · Post by **Just_Joe** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 1:30 pm

Token wrote: You are much better off looking at the amateur MADIS station on the Gerlach water tower.

I'll second that.
The station Hygrometer is toast tho, so no humidity readings.

Poking around, I see that the last several months high winds have been in the low to mid 40mph range.
I'll be taking readings in BRC throughout the week this year.
Are there any verifiable historic data "on Playa" for the week of the burn?

Token · Post by **Token** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 1:41 pm

""""On another note, are you saying that the Lovelock, NV weather info is a better gauge than the Gerlach, NV location?""""

No, that is the data that Accuwether gets and then extrapolates for the Playa. Meteorologists are pretty good at doing that.

@WM, the station at the BM office is an older Davis Instruments unit with the UV option. I'm surprised it held up so well over the years.

I think they may have upgraded to the Pro version this year but the Hygro cable looks to be busted. They have all the Pro templates in their web server.

I'm sure they'll fix it at some point when they get the boom lift there to fix the camera.

justfred · Post by **justfred** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 1:46 pm

Token wrote:Cold and windy is a bitch on the Playa. Froze my jewels off more than once.

More than once? How did you reattach them in the mean time?

Token · Post by **Token** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 1:52 pm

Crazy Glue.

capjbadger · Post by **capjbadger** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 1:55 pm

Goop.

Bounce530 · Post by **Bounce530** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 1:58 pm

With that beard I would've thought you used gorilla glue!

har-har...

Token · Post by **Token** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 3:03 pm

>>>Are there any verifiable historic data "on Playa" for the week of the burn?<<<

One place I know of has a few years of data.

http://www.dongrays.com/burningman2010/weather.html
http://www.dongrays.com/burningman2009/
http://www.dongrays.com/burningman2008/
http://www.dongrays.com/burningman2007/

Ask Bryan for the text files. I'm sure he will be happy to share them.

He pulls the data files from the Gerlach weather station every few minutes.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 4:11 pm

Token wrote:Froze my jewels off more than once.

Ah, that's where diamonds come from.

And why they are called ice.

Playa Foot · Post by **Playa Foot** » Tue Aug 17, 2010 7:03 pm

In the area today there is a Red Flag Fire Warning which means the humidity is low and the winds are high. The winds are expected to diminish later tonight. Honey Lake, an intermittent lake near Susanville is another part of what was Lake Lahontan as are Pyramid Lake and the Smoke Creek and Black Rock deserts. There were hugh clouds of dust billowing off the lakebed today in the winds.

phil · Post by **phil** » Mon Aug 23, 2010 8:59 am

A later report I can't date reliably - sometime around this past weekend:

Days are warm and calm; overnight lows are bone chilling from around 2:00 AM. People driving raise huge clouds of dust, so be prepared on Monday when the crowds start. Lots of dust piles make biking difficult in places.

I don't know the source of this report. It's attributed to someone working on the set up crew. BMOrg has moved the entry road this year in an attempt to alleviate the dust from arrivals - hope that works.