Wasteland Weekend
We get this question a lot. After years of holding the event in the same spot in the Mojave Desert, at the same time of year, we still can’t tell you for sure what the weather will be more than about 7 days out. Desert weather is too unpredictable to be accurate farther ahead than that. Even then, it CAN change, sometimes daily.
If we took a general average over the last 15 years, we would say mid-80s during the day, and mid-to-high 50s at night. But don’t plan on that. Don’t plan on anything until we’re closer to a week out. And even then, COME PREPARED.
We’ve had events where it got as cold as the high 30s at night (though that’s rare), and 100 during the day (also rare, though not as rare as we would like). And WIND. We always seem to get at least one day of high winds.
We almost never get any rain during the event, but it’s not impossible.
Speaking of which…
Given the heavy rain and resulting mud Burning Man experienced in Nevada in 2023, many people have reached out to ask us if that is a concern for our event.
The short answer is: no.
The longer answer?
We are a very different event, and we are in a very different location.
1. Burning Man (BM) takes place on the Black Rock Playa in the Black Rock Desert of Northwestern Nevada, one of the largest alkali flats in the world. It’s a beautiful, flat, lightly-colored dusty plain, but heavy rains there can cause very sticky clay-like mud very quickly, and 2023 was a freak storm with record high rainfalls in a very short amount of time.
Wasteland Weekend (WW) takes place in a standard desert climate. The California Mojave Desert, to be specific. Our event property has spots that are rocky but yes, also flat, sandy, and dusty. But the mud there (when it happens) is just regular mud. And, WW has gravel roads that crisscross our entire location, which BM does not.
2. BM has a population of over 73,000 people. That’s a LOT of vehicles to try and exit a space, even when there are no adverse weather conditions. The normal Exodus (everyone leaving the site) from BM can take on average 6-8 hours, sometimes longer. It’s really about that high number of people all trying to leave at once with limited roads.
WW is just a few thousand people, which is really the biggest difference. Sure, attendees can experience a sometimes hours-long wait in a line of cars before checking in on the first morning, but that’s about it for us. And leaving WW is pretty fast and easy. You’re never farther than 6 miles from pavement. Just make sure you follow any/all road signs and staff instructions on your way in and out of our site.
3. BM is in a remote location.
WW is only 6 miles to the nearest paved road, and only about a 25 minute drive to a hotel, gas station, Starbucks, etc..
Bottom line is freak weather can happen at any outdoor event, but our location and event size makes things more manageable.
We’ve had rain during Build and during Teardown here and there, but in 16 years of doing the event, it has only rained DURING Wasteland Weekend once, in 2025.
(We did close the road in to the event during Build Week 2025 to prevent anyone from getting stuck, but that was only for 24 hours so the ground could firm up, and by the time the majority of the population was coming in, the road in was fine.)
Even in a worst-case-scenario, we would know in advance if there was a BIG storm coming.
So, to recap, start checking the weather 7 days before the event starts.
Plan for desert highs and lows, and anything in between.
There will be wind, sun, dirt and dust.
And fun!
Lots and lots of post-apocalyptic fun.
