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Burning Man is always a battle against the elements, but last year was particularly brutal, with temperatures reaching 105 degrees. Many posited the harsh conditions caused a ticket surplus this year, but those who did gamble on another scorching year are being rewarded with cooler temps and a chance of rain showers. However, wind and storms may cause complications given the makeshift nature of so many structures at the event.
According to the National Weather Service, chances of rain are still moderate and the total rainfall would likely amount to two-tenths of an inch, but the muddy conditions caused by Tropical Storm Hilary before the festival raise the question — what would the event look like in a theoretical flood?
One Burner used AI to find out.
Mark Day, a longtime Burning Man attendee, has been posting videos from the event on YouTube for the last 17 years. Videos from his most popular recurring series, “24 Hours at Burning Man,” have racked up more than 2 million views. Since we are living in the year 2023, though, Day has taken to using AI for some of his videos, including in a possibly prescient viral post on X (formerly Twitter) that has had 50,000 views since it was published on Aug. 18.
The video opens with a pair of kayaking figures wearing helmets reminiscent of Daft Punk. Art cars are transformed into floating barges, a gigantic rubber ducky rests in a standing water, and a woman who looks remarkably like Taylor Swift wades through a desert sea. SFGATE has reached out to Day for comment, but he is presumed to be at the Burn.