Thousands of attendees faced long entry delays, with lines stretching across the Nevada desert and wait times exceeding seven hours as people arrived at Black Rock City. A sudden dust storm brought 50+ mph gusts and a "wall of blowing dust," reducing visibility to less than a mile and prompting travel advisories. Camps experienced extensive damage, including destroyed shade structures, bent EMT shelters, lost tents and blown-off carport coverings. Some participants sheltered in trailers and relied on goggles to see. At least one large art installation was reported destroyed amid widespread playa impacts.
A line of cars snaked across the Nevada desert on Sunday morning, leading to wait times of over seven hours as thousands of people descended on the gates of Black Rock City for this year's Burning Man. But some participants who tried to beat the crowds found themselves reeling in the aftermath of a fierce dust storm that sent 50 mph wind gusts whipping through campsites and destroyed at least one work of art over the weekend.
Just after 5 p.m. on Saturday, the National Weather Service's Reno office issued an advisory for a "wall of blowing dust" coming from the playa, which was tracking northward at 30 mph before quickly picking up speed. Within an hour, meteorologists reported less than a mile of visibility and urged people to delay and reroute travel as the Black Rock City Airport weather station measured gusts of 52 mph.
"It got us good. It got the city real good," San Francisco-based DJ and producer Major Trouble said in a video he shared on Facebook. "There are a couple of camps that got completely thrashed." The musician said communal shade structures and dining areas were among some of the spaces that were damaged by the storm. EMT structures were "totally bent and destroyed," he added, and some coverings on carports were blown off.
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