Any word on playa conditions for 2013?

[TT120]

Doesn't matter if it rains. We will adapt and overcome!

As long as the rain doesn't water down my glass of single malt scotch, I'll be fine.

[lemur]

What will they do if the playa isn't dry enough to drive out onto it when the gates open? Delay opening?

it depends on how big of a rain it is.. i.e.how long the impact of the event is..

some of this stuff is in the various stipulations/BLM documents/operating plans for the event..


they have it all planned out..


if its a heavy rain lasting a few hours, or likely to make the playa impassable the roads in and out will be closed and people near the event site will be directed to the ranch, or elsewhere..

from the 2011 operating plan (probably not too much dif than it is this year):

In the event of rain, NDOT/NHP will advise traffic
exiting I-80 of conditions ahead. (NHP has indicated
willingness to put up message boards.) Rangers should
be stationed at pull-offs to answer questions, but traffic
should be directed north, rather than allowed to
accumulate. However, rangers should patrol Fernley
and Wadsworth to ensure that participants that do
remain are behaving well, and are informed.
Participant traffic already past Fernley and unwilling or
unable to rent lodging in Reno should be directed to
Black Rock Station and/or the work ranch. Portable
toilets are available onsite, and their supplier should be
kept advised of their use/condition.
DPW/Ranch Staff must ensure spare paper and a case
of hand-sanitizer solution, and develop a plan for
parking, latrine staging and production, and
management.
Prior to the event, the DPW Sign Shop will make signs
to be stored in Gerlach for use in case of rain. Signs
will read: BURNING MAN EVENT SITE CLOSED
DUE TO WEATHER CONDTIONS NO ON/OFF
PLAYA TRAFFIC PERMITTED PROCEED NORTH
TO EVENT STAGING AREA (Approx 20 miles )
AND WAIT FOR UPDATES FROM BRC RANGERS

(source: http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/ ... 20Plan.pdf )

[Elderberry]

Has there been this much rain so close to the event opening in any years past?

[Simon of the Playa]

everything will go swimmingly.

[maladroit]

Still better than the lava storm of '92.

[Mojojita]

Has there been this much rain so close to the event opening in any years past?

I'm not sure I have seen the playa this wet this close to opening - but 2000 was fun.

I think the biggest issue if the rain continues off and on is sanitation. It is a very good idea to bring along a poop bucket. Even if we can all get to the porto potties, the trucks may not be able to get there on their regular schedule to clean them.

[FIGJAM]

Sorry!

My experiment with the deep cycle battery in the sink was too close to the microwave.

I was trying for a smooth compacted surface for the burn and it got out of hand.

I've disassembled the mechanism, so everything should dry out in the next 2 weeks.

And again......sorry.

[media]

[Captain Goddammit]

Goddammit FIGJAM, you've really done it this time!
Go to your room.

No, stay out of your room!!
Or whatever, just don't touch anything!

[Lonesomebri]

[media]

[Eric]

In 2010 there was a little rain shower on Monday after that closed the Gate for a while. Didn't last long, playa dried out in half an hour or so (yet it was wet long enough for sad-looking sparkle-ponies to be seen pushing their bikes while their tires built up a layer of wet playa), and the aftermath was stunning.

Bman10008.jpg

[lemur]

yeah the mid-day 2010 rain sucked...... it also rained, i think, my memory is fuzzy, the previous morning.. or maybe it was that same morning.. i had to wake up and repair a leak in my tent at like 4:30am which was a pain in the ass... had to go dig around a pile of crap to find a tarp... waking up wet sucks.




(2010)

rain on the playa has a habit of pulling all of the dust out of the air and making a big mudpile on everyhing..

we didnt have 'carpet' in the workspace that year.. and instead had tarps/rugs/sections of linoleum which had to be pulled up because it was a slip and slide in there.

..had to set up a 'mud scraping' station for the volunteers to clean their shoes off as they worked


im hoping the rain stays away this year.


i wouldnt mind cool temperatures... but fuck the rain.

[lemur]

Has there been this much rain so close to the event opening in any years past?

i think this source is pretty authoritative:

“I’ve been coming out here for 18 years,” Coyote said, “and I’ve never seen anything like this at this time of year.

("Coyote is Black Rock City Superintendent and an original member of the Department of Public Works")

http://blog.burningman.com/2013/08/buil ... rain-came/

[Savannah]

yeah the mid-day 2010 rain sucked...... it also rained, i think, my memory is fuzzy, the previous morning.. or maybe it was that same morning.. i had to wake up and repair a leak in my tent at like 4:30am which was a pain in the ass... had to go dig around a pile of crap to find a tarp... waking up wet sucks.

You're correct; it rained early Sunday morning before Gates in 2010, maybe from 1:00 or 2:00am, for several hours straight. The wind kicked up too, and I remember opening my eyes at about 2am or so and watching my tent being buffeted about, above, and watching water slide down the outside. If I pressed a fingertip to the tent, a bead of rain would come through, but if I didn't touch, it ran right down the sides.

I'm agnostic, but I said a little prayer anyway, hoping to stay dry. It was a very primitive, five-thousand-year-old feeling.

It was cold in the morning. I went to my first ESD shift, and we huddled around a propane heater drying the yellow fleece of a volunteer who hadn't been so lucky, taking care not to melt it.

Then it rained again on Monday afternoon. That felt festive though, because my friends had rolled in by that time and we sat around having cocktails and listening to the eerie silence broken only by some lone car motor above the speed limit. There were distant screams of "Slow down! Slow down!" and others bellowing "Don't stop, you idiot! You'll get STUCK!"

[lemur]

as it turned out the rain on monday 2010 matched up real good with the meal we were cooking during the rain..... chicken soup.

[Simon of the Playa]

.

[lemur]

fuckin' hippies.

[lucky420]

look at all the spectators

[lemur]

horrified onlookers ?

[pink]

In 2010, I rolled onto the playa early Sunday afternoon after waking to the never-before-heard sound of rain hitting the roof of my van while camped out in Wadsworth. It had dried out enough by the time I got to the playa that I didn't have any issues on gate road or driving to my campsite.

If nothing else, this year will be interesting! Will the unprepared leave early due to rain, or just being so damned cold they can't handle it? As long as it is dry on the 22nd & 23rd so we can get our shade structure up, bring it on!

[Captain Goddammit]

Such irony; if its high and dry the boat will be fine, if there's water on the ground it's marooned!

[mulch]

I've wondered how those people coped with the aftermath of their decision to wallow in the mud. I mean, it sort of looks like crazy hippie groupie fun until you think about slogging back to your camp..., and then what ? Diaper wipes? A couple of gallon shower if you are lucky?

I'm predicting the best conditions ever. The rain is over tonight and then a hard surface with less dust.

But I'm still bringing what we call "shrimp boots" here in New Orleans.

[Simon of the Playa]

.

[rubymermaid]

When was the last year it rained a lot before? I know in 2010 it rained the weekend the gate opened and Monday too, but by the time I arrive on Tuesday at 7am I could not tell it had rained. It was my first year and I missed Monday because of an accounting class, so I missed the rain.

[lemur]

its gonna be a dusty fuckin desert either way!

[lucky420]

When was the last year it rained a lot before? I know in 2010 it rained the weekend the gate opened and Monday too, but by the time I arrive on Tuesday at 7am I could not tell it had rained. It was my first year and I missed Monday because of an accounting class, so I missed the rain.

i'm not sure, but please people. no one leave their cake out in the rain...

[FIGJAM]

Everybody knows Chaney has a weather machine!

[MoBo]

When was the last year it rained a lot before? I know in 2010 it rained the weekend the gate opened and Monday too, but by the time I arrive on Tuesday at 7am I could not tell it had rained. It was my first year and I missed Monday because of an accounting class, so I missed the rain.

i'm not sure, but please people. no one leave their cake out in the rain...

Two questions Re: cake...

1). Baking time?
2). Do you still have that recipe?

[tamarakay]

When was the last year it rained a lot before? I know in 2010 it rained the weekend the gate opened and Monday too, but by the time I arrive on Tuesday at 7am I could not tell it had rained. It was my first year and I missed Monday because of an accounting class, so I missed the rain.

i'm not sure, but please people. no one leave their cake out in the rain...

I. Don't. Think. That I Can Take It. (Said in my best Shatner)

[Simon of the Playa]

[media]

[Sundial]

In 2010 there was a little rain shower on Monday after that closed the Gate for a while. Didn't last long, playa dried out in half an hour or so (yet it was wet long enough for sad-looking sparkle-ponies to be seen pushing their bikes while their tires built up a layer of wet playa), and the aftermath was stunning.

Bman10008.jpg

I swear to god, I saw a double rainbow after that rain shower. It was my first Burn. Fucking magical. =p