A seven-hour whiteout storm hit Black Rock City Thursday afternoon, killing an afternoon of work prepairing for the Burning Man festival on the barren Black Rock Desert in Nevada.
In Gerlach, Nev., the closest town to Burning Man, word of the “amazing, nice hard pack” conditions of the desert floor rose up from dusty trucks stopping at the Burning Man Offices.
The weather at noon on Friday is very mild, less than 80 degrees, with a high of 70 degrees predicted for Sunday, amid isolated thundershowers (yikes!).
It looks like the days will be cool this year, barely reaching 90 degrees one or two days, and early reports from the playa say the nights have been cold.
Once the gates open at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 30 the festival is expected to get around 45,000 people for a week of art, music and community, ending on Labor Day, Monday, September 6.
In the Bay Area this weekend, dust will rise off of old carpets, costumes and camping supplies unearthed from garages and storage containers as thousands of Bay Area burners get ready for the trip East.
Large-scale artists like the 2010 Temple crew from Oakland and Bliss Dance out of Treasure Island have already been working away for days and weeks at the Black Rock Desert setting up their projects for the event.
I hope to post some pictures and stories from the playa if I am able to find an internet connection. If not, I’ll have a full report upon my return to San Francisco after Labor Day.
