Northern Nevada will likely experience a monsoon-type pattern with rain, showers and thunderstorms expected as soon as Sunday and Monday. Those storms could produce hazardous, muddy conditions that would affect travel into the Black Rock Desert by air and ground. A chance of rain and thunderstorms exists Aug. 24–27, with Aug. 24 and 25 likely to be not too hot. Late August moisture is not unusual. Heavy rains in 2023 turned the playa into deep mud, immobilized bicycles and temporarily trapped about 70,000 attendees, leaving hardened tire tracks that required construction equipment to restore the landscape. Online forum users appear mostly unbothered.
Mark Deutschendorf, a meteorologist at the weather service's office in Reno, told SFGATE that northern Nevada will likely experience a "monsoon-type pattern." "As soon as Sunday and Monday, we are expecting rain, showers and thunderstorms to occur, and if they do hit the desert, that could produce some hazardous conditions, muddy conditions, which would affect travel into the site, both by air and by ground," Deutschendorf said during a phone call on Wednesday.
It's too soon to say whether heavy rain will fall directly on Black Rock City, Deutschendorf said, but the weather service is keeping its eyes on the area. A chance of rain and thunderstorms is forecast for Aug. 24 through Aug. 27, but he predicts the conditions on Aug. 24 and Aug. 25 would be "not too hot." While potentially concerning for those venturing out to the playa, some rain in the forecast is nothing out of the ordinary.
That forecast might give some Burning Man attendees flashbacks to 2023, when unexpected heavy rains turned the desert into a muddy mess, rendering bicycles unusable and leaving some 70,000 attendees temporarily stuck at the event. As Burners left the desert, their cars left deep, hardened tire tracks in the mud, and volunteers had to use construction equipment to flatten the landscape back into its original state.
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