Video footage capture the moment that revelers at Burning Man festival were engulfed by a giant dust storm.
The sun was blotted out entirely by clouds of thick dust swirling around the campsite in the short clip, believed to have been shot at this summer’s event in the Nevada desert.
Moments later the storm hit.
This is the incredible moment a huge dust storm swallowed up camps at Burning Man festival
The sun was blotted out entirely by clouds of thick dust swirling around the campsite in the short clip
Thick clouds of dust billow towards the camper vans and tents in the video, believed to have been shot at this summer’s event in the Nevada desert
Suddenly visibility dropped to just two feet in front of the camera as the wind, dust and sand buffeted the camp.
‘The dust storm lasted a good 5 minutes, during which there were massive amounts of wind and even some uncharacteristic desert rain,’ said festival goer Derek Ricciuto, who filmed the natural phenomena.
‘After the storm, every object on the beach was carpeted in white, hidden under a fine layer of dust.
The video was most likely taken on August 30, day three of the festival, when the psychedelic symposium at Black Rock Desert found themselves absorbing the brunt of a punishing dust storm.
Pictures of the festival showed the ‘community’ inundated with thick choking clouds of sand, with some well prepared participants using gas-masks to fight through the earthly gust while others seem to embrace the natural phenomenon.
The festival is held in a dried out lake which means dust storms are a real threat
The video was most likely taken on August 30, day three of the festival, when the psychedelic symposium at Black Rock Desert found themselves absorbing the brunt of a punishing dust storm
Suddenly visibility dropped to just two feet in front of the camera as the wind, dust and sand buffeted the camp
The art and music festival ran for nine days until September 4 in Black Rock Desert, which is about 120 miles north of Reno.
The remote week-long rave is often described as ‘where Mad Max meets Woodstock’.
Thirty years after its first incarnation, attracts tens of thousands to the dried up lake where the event is held which becomes Black Rock City.
However, the festival risked relocation this year due to a pool of standing water, prompting officials in June to warn there was a possibility that the event could be moved from its location two hours north of Reno in Gerlach.
The desert basin is transformed into mud every year by the run-off of melting snow, but this past season’s high precipitation formed the lake, causing fears that the playa would be muddy and impossible to drive across.