Black Rock City Airport (NV88) reopened at 10 a.m. Monday after a 16-hour closure prompted by a nasty series of thunderstorms and dust storms that tore through the temporary metropolis that supports the annual Burning Man festival in northern Nevada. Hundreds of airplanes are due to land at the flat patch of ground that serves as the volunteer-run airport for the festival, but even though the airport is open, thunderstorms and uncharacteristically wet weather were hampering operations until late Tuesday. There were about 100 aircraft on the field at the time, but it’s not clear if any were damaged. An air ambulance did land during the closure. A few minor injuries were reported at the festival site, which is about 1.5 miles from the airport.
The good news for the attendees is that weather is expected to improve through the week, meaning a repeat of the washout that stranded thousands at the 2023 festival is not expected. One aircraft was stuck on the playa for more than two weeks after that event waiting for things to dry out enough to move to the runway. The event runs until the end of the week.
The airport identifier for Blackrock City Airport is 88NV, not NV88 (private ag strip).