Looking for videos of dust storms and accidents

[Bob]

It was easier to change plans when it was forty bucks for an extended weekend. This year might be like a Dodger game where people come in the third inning and leave in the seventh, or it might not. The loose dust isn't going away, that's for sure.

[Desert_Rat]

Who cares about money or loose dust. This is sounding a little more...profound.

[trilobyte]

Daily updates are finding their way to the boards, Desert_Rat, but it's not the sort of location that's given to easy updates. The people who are there have a job to do, the pre-game isn't live-streamed. Read the survival guide (or do it again if you read it at some point before now), read the reports, then go all in or fold. Your years of 'hard core desert camping' give you a little bit to go on (though high altitude camping's different, and the playa's a unique variant on that), think of it as a chance to put your skills to the test. You have a reasonably good chance of survival.

[Bob]

Stuff blows down. Sounds more alarming when it hits the internet repeaters, and you don't hear about all the stuff that didn't blow down.

[Desert_Rat]

I'm most comfortable at 5500'+, 100°+ and 10% humidity or less. Totally at home on the playa, BUT...

This year looks to be different from *anything* that has come before. 60k people, 40+MPH winds, massive dust-drifts, continual whiteouts.

The feed from Camp Envy will be very telling on the first day...assuming they got tickets, that is. :0)

[maladroit]

Maladroit, that's wind damage.

It's Thunderdome. *facepalm*. It has people climbing all over it all the time.

I wish I had the double facepalm photo, but I'm on my phone

You can't pull one over on this noob, Thunderdome is way bigger and has a lot more triangles, and beefier struts and connectors.

[Bob]

Plus it's missing the sign on top.

[Trishntek]

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=40.88652440805989&lon=-119.05746459960938&site=rev&smap=1&unit=0&lg=en&FcstType=text

[pink]

See now, it looks like it'll be clearing up just about the time I get there. And cooler too!

Desert-Rat, don't make the mistake a people did in 2008. Got in the city Monday, got hit by epic dust storm, high winds. Left Tuesday. Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday were pretty darn nice; not a lot of wind, and no city-wide storms.

Well, then it blew up again on the weekend. But by then we were pretty used to it.

Maladroit, I apologize; I was looking at the photo on my phone, saw the flag, and thought T-Dome.

[maladroit]

Thanks for apologizing, I totally gave you an out to play it like you were stringing along the new guy.

[FIGJAM]

Click on animate.

Looks dusty.

http://blackrockdesert.org/friends/playacam

[Bob]

Looks like fire haze to me.

http://www.fire.ca.gov/fire_protection/firemaps.php

[Bob]

See, basically no wind this morning.

[Desert_Rat]

Playacam is *exactly* what I was hoping for...great link, thank you!!!

Keep the first hand reports coming...

[theCryptofishist]

Plus it's missing the sign on top.

Seeing this pic makes me ridiculously happy...

[westnileraven]

"Overnight: Areas of smoke. Mostly clear, with a low around 66. Northwest wind around 5 mph. "

It was smoke! I stopped by last weekend and I was like "gee there sure is a lot of dust in all of northern nevada *cough cough* *eyes water* * concrete boogers.*
Can't wait to get to the W side where theres insane Sunday afternoon traffic from Truckee to the Pacific Ocean, and its 10 degrees hotter than in the fucking desert."

What part of Nevada is burning to make all this smoke?
*Edit
I scrolled down.

"Friday 16 August: heavy smoke and haze from the RUSH fire 40 miles west, and the CHIPS fire 100 miles west southwest, of Gerlach " Holy Crap!!

[ZaphodBurner]

This is sounding less and less appealing. Seriously. And I've been doing hard core desert camping for over twenty years...but 40+ MPH winds every day and white outs with less than 100' visibility, combined with projectiles and shrapnel flying around.

Yes, but have you done these naked?

[Ugly Dougly]

[JovReef]

Well at least you can see the mountains in the playa cam today.

[Morrell]

Oh no! Don't let the Pier blow away!

[Desert_Rat]

Two significant wind events are prognosticated:

For this weekend, low pressure approaches the Pacific northwest
and brings a gradual increase in afternoon-evening winds and a
slight cooling trend each day. By Sunday, some local gusts to 35
miles per hour will be possible in northeast California-northwest Nevada. With flow
aloft primarily from the southwest, smoke plumes from existing
fires should remain limited to areas north of Portola-Gerlach
line, with improved conditions from Reno-Tahoe east across the west
central Nevada basin. Did not include mention of smoke beyond
Saturday night since projecting fire activity three or more days
in advance becomes more uncertain. Some cumulus buildups are again
likely south of Highway 50 Saturday, with fewer clouds in these
areas Sunday as air mass becomes more stable with decreasing middle
level moisture. Mjd


Long term...Monday through Thursday...


Overall synoptic pattern is narrowing in on a positively tilted deep
trough, with dry southwest flow over northern CA/NV. There is still
plenty of uncertainty in the timing and strength of the trough
passage, but the overall trends are dry, windy and cooler for next
week.


As for the timing differences between the models, the GFS is now
the faster solution, with the trough swinging through the area
late Tuesday. European model (ecmwf)/Gem both hold it back until Wednesday before
pushing it east. Either way, we expect a period of stronger winds
early in the week (best chances on tuesday). Fire weather
conditions will need to be monitored closely, as strong winds and
dry conditions may require statements. The good news is that a
frontal passage middle week will bring cooler temperatures to the
region. Started bringing down temperatures Tuesday-Wednesday as 700 mb temperatures
drop to near 8 c, which typically leads to middle-upper 80s in
western Nevada during the Summer.

[Sail Man]

In 2006 I watched a ez-up-canopy tent fly 50 feet into the air like a tornado grabbed it and come crashing down into a girls chest. She got a free helicopter ride- to Reno ER.

In 2008 I saw the same thing happen, pretty much soaring above the Ghetto. From our vantage point in kidsville I would say it was well over 50 feet. Cant recall where it came down.

Ironically, we were using 2 ez-ups our-self. However, we used both 2' and 4' rebar, emt conduit, old sailboat halyards and a F150 to keep them down. Worked nicely. Though probably wouldn't have survived an Alpha.

[Earthwalker]

WOW. I'm sorry to bump this old thread, but I think first-timers, like me, should really see the pics/vids in here. That is freakin NUTS. Like balls to the wall nuts. I'm scared haha

So, in a storm like that, I would assume the best bet is to hop in your vehicle? I can't image many structures standing up to that. How about the regular LoveMonkey MH? Any chance of survival if it's properly rebarred with a gap between the sides and the ground, and open at both ends?

Alternatively, one could just take off running in the dust storm. That could be fun. But...flying pvc would probably impale you. And that's never fun for anyone. Unless you are an admirer of Vlad the Impaler. Then you may find amusement. But that would make you a sick fuck and sick fucks aren't generally too cool to be around.

[Savannah]

WOW. I'm sorry to bump this old thread, but I think first-timers, like me, should really see the pics/vids in here. That is freakin NUTS. Like balls to the wall nuts. I'm scared haha

So, in a storm like that, I would assume the best bet is to hop in your vehicle? I can't image many structures standing up to that. How about the regular LoveMonkey MH? Any chance of survival if it's properly rebarred with a gap between the sides and the ground, and open at both ends?

A well done monkey hut will probably survive, and that's why they're popular.

Alternatively, one could just take off running in the dust storm. That could be fun. But...flying pvc would probably impale you. And that's never fun for anyone. Unless you are an admirer of Vlad the Impaler. Then you may find amusement. But that would make you a sick fuck and sick fucks aren't generally too cool to be around.

Sure, you can hop in your vehicle, if you don't mind cooling your heels indefinitely.

The first major dust storm I experienced was 4 hours long. It was my first year, so I relaxed and read a book while the roof of my tent performed interesting gymnastics above me. I don't regret that, but these days I tend to be a lot more active during storms. Then again, I'm poor at napping. (If you can nap anywhere, and need one, that might be an excellent use of your time. You can check the integrity of your camp, and then bed down.)

In 2008 there were two 8 hour windstorms, and I learned that my favorite new way of handling such things is 1) check how camp is holding up first 2) go meet the neighbors, and then go out dancing. If you shield your eyes, you'll (probably) be fine, so keep your goggles readily at hand.

[some seeing eye]

In the wind you don't want a gap at the base of your walls. The wind velocity along the ground will be lower so that helps. In really bad prolonged storms, people have been known to leave the playa. It's a lot of fun to be with other people in a crisis and your probability of being struck by flying objects is quite low.

[FIGJAM]

Whiteouts happen, but they are not the norm.

Threads like this are to make sure you secure your camp properly.

Highest sustained winds were clocked at 56mph.

Dustdevils can produce winds in excess of 100mph, but will only last a few seconds to maybe a minute as they blow through pretty quick.

It seems to me that the failures come from tired people setting up and thinking "Thats good enough" when setting up needs to be taken very seriously just to keep from screwing up your Burn later in the week.

[VultureChow]

Open playa baby. That's where I spent the Friday (I think) afternoon storm last year working perimeter at the Wall Street Burn for no reason whatsoever. Nothing to blow around and hit you. You can feel the full force of it. As long as you have goggles and a mask, just enjoy it. Like a good rain when you're already soaked to the bone.

I like the idea of gifting in the storm. Going from each distant huddled couple to the next. Giving them a necklace or a scarf, (or a mask if they don't have one) and then fading into the dust never to be seen again. I'm going to try that next year.

Also, be prepared, but you're pretty unlikely to be killed by flying debris. It's not exactly a tornado.

[9ah]

My goggles almost never left my body except when I slept, but most nights I fell asleep with them atop my head. I didn't use them often, but it's def nice to know that if I needed to I can throw them on. (They also make a GREAT headband, if nothing else). The same with a scarf/bandanna attached to my body somewhere just in case.

I lost quite a few photos, but this was on Tuesday heading back from deep playa. I was heading into the storm, but took a pic from a distance so I could enjoy my ride. I think Friday night was the worst, but I don't have photos from it. I stayed in camp that night.

[Eric]

I think Friday night was the worst, but I don't have photos from it. I stayed in camp that night.

We biked from Center Camp to Esplanade & 2:30 in the Friday white-out. We couldn't even see the work-lights around the man for a big chunk of it, and stumbled on a MV that was stopped & throwing a dance party somewhere halfway between the Man & 3. Stayed there for a bit, then let the wind continue pushing us to our destination. Decided that was too crowded, so we started moving back towards Center Camp, and discovered it was easy on the way out because the wind was behind us. Took forever to get back to camp, we pulled out drinks, and just partied in the RV all night (which I've mentioned before as being in my top 2 nights on the playa ever).

I thought I had a picture of outside that night, can't find it. Great time!

[theCryptofishist]

Alternatively, one could just take off running in the dust storm. That could be fun. But...flying pvc would probably impale you. And that's never fun for anyone. Unless you are an admirer of Vlad the Impaler. Then you may find amusement. But that would make you a sick fuck and sick fucks aren't generally too cool to be around.

Sure, you can hop in your vehicle, if you don't mind cooling your heels indefinitely. /[quote]
I advise against it. In 2005 I was out with Robbidobbs and not enough water. We sat in the back of her truck, under the camper shell, and afterwards I went to REMSA and then had a ride to Reno. I was so dehydrated that I took 6 liters of saline. During the day, even in white out conditions, cars are heat traps.