The playa giveth, and the playa taketh away – especially when storm clouds decide to crash the biggest desert bash of the year.

Burning Man 2025 kicked off with more drama than a reality TV show, as wind and rain turned the Black Rock Desert into nature’s own unpredictable playground. Festivalgoers found themselves in a meteorological game of hurry up and wait, with traffic backed up for hours and organizers scrambling to manage the chaos.

Desert Weather: Unpredictable AF

With wind gusts forecasted up to 45 mph, the National Weather Service basically said, “Not today, burners”. Event organizers went into full crisis management mode, advising attendees to either hunker down in Reno or risk getting stuck in a dust-and-rain apocalypse.

The Great Waiting Game

By Monday morning, things started looking up. The gate reopened at 7:30 am, and Burner Express Bus services from San Francisco and Reno rolled out on schedule. But here’s the tea: travel times were still glacial, with the “gravel to gate” journey taking a whopping 8 hours.

Climate Change: The Ultimate Festival Crasher

This isn’t the first time extreme weather has played gatekeeper at Burning Man. After heavy rains in 2023 and a severe dust storm last year, 2025 was supposed to be different. Spoiler alert: nature had other plans.

As the week progresses and Labor Day approaches, burners remain hopeful that the desert will cooperate. But in the world of Burning Man, expecting the unexpected is always the best survival strategy.