It happens several times a year but this time it abbreviated the Blokart championships when Ivanpah flooded early this morning. The event tent has over 4" of water in it this afternoon. I really feel bad for those that have equipment and vehicles stranded out there. Most left when it started raining about 4 am. Some decided not to or were unable to pull out in time. The tent and other items could be stranded there for more than a week or two.

Sorry about that...but now I gotta ask for pictures...i can't help it

YIKES,

When it happens it happens fast. I hope most folks knew and got their vehicles, motor homes etc. out in time?

How deep can it get? Do vehicles sink into the muck if left sitting?

There are pictures of the lake condition on the North American Blokart Facebook page.

Man, I should have been there with my skim board and kite! J/K

I shared the pics to the Ivanpah buggy expo fb page as well. You don't have to sign up to see them.

I don't know the next lowest point to the south. I'm guessing it could get hundreds of feet deep worst case. A foot or so is typical.

Man, that is brutal. And agreed, very sad. I hope folks got their equipment and vehicles out OK. I imagine that tent got pretty dirty.

There were a few hours on Wednesday of IBX where we had some nasty storm clouds dropping decent amounts of rain pretty much to all sides of the playa off and on throughout the afternoon. There were a few hours when we were watching rain advance as close as the solar fields across the highway. At one point a few wind-whipped drops were hitting camp where Bob talks about the tent and I was thinking "Uh-Oh, Here We Go", but then it sort of broke up and the sun burst out.

Those storms made for some pretty wild wind conditions with full 180 deg swings in wind direction, blowing teens to low twenties one minute to lulls (dead calms) the next only to have as strong or stronger winds come back through in the exact opposite direction. I was in camp at one point trying to head out and would pin a kite against a pole or the nose of my car, run the lines out and before I could launch the kite it would be rolling on the ground TOWARDS me. There were a few people in buggies out on the playa at that point and it was wild to watch them from camp as they would scorch around in completely different directions with their kites pointed N E S or W interspersed with sitting still with their kites on the ground.

Weather like we had that day is actually pretty spectacular looking in a mountainous desert setting like that.

I thought the IBX event was closer to the end of April ? Are there any other drier locations for you all to roll on?

Quote: Originally posted by RedSky

I thought the IBX event was closer to the end of April ? Are there any other drier locations for you all to roll on?

Here's a link to the website: http://www.ivanpahbuggyexpo.com/index.html

I suspect things will dry out again pretty quickly. Lots of sun, heat, super low humidity and wind. Badabing Badaboom.

man thats a tough situation, thats gonna be messy.

Redsky, IBX is always the week after the last full week in March. It rained here mostly all weekend and finally cleared late this afternoon. A local went down and said the water was higher today than it was yesterday. Now the drying and surface regeneration can begin.

Quote: Originally posted by BeamerBob

Redsky, IBX is always the week after the last full week in March. It rained here mostly all weekend and finally cleared late this afternoon. A local went down and said the water was higher today than it was yesterday. Now the drying and surface regeneration can begin.

Bob - this is clearly a cycle that has repeated itself time immemorial. Do you have any feel for how long it tends to take for things to dry out and be usable again? I realize there are many factors that could change this (temperatures, humidity, new precipitation, winds, etc.). Also, is the surface generally nicer after this sort of flooding or does it take a while for wind to smooth things out again?

Quote: Originally posted by BeamerBob

Redsky, IBX is always the week after the last full week in March. It rained here mostly all weekend and finally cleared late this afternoon. A local went down and said the water was higher today than it was yesterday. Now the drying and surface regeneration can begin.

Yeah, I don't know why I thought otherwise.

Quote: Originally posted by Windstruck

Quote: Originally posted by BeamerBob   Redsky, IBX is always the week after the last full week in March. It rained here mostly all weekend and finally cleared late this afternoon. A local went down and said the water was higher today than it was yesterday. Now the drying and surface regeneration can begin. Bob - this is clearly a cycle that has repeated itself time immemorial. Do you have any feel for how long it tends to take for things to dry out and be usable again? I realize there are many factors that could change this (temperatures, humidity, new precipitation, winds, etc.). Also, is the surface generally nicer after this sort of flooding or does it take a while for wind to smooth things out again?

It's just different after every flood. Places that were smooth can be rough and vice versa. The renewed surface probably is affected by drying rate, and wind during the drying out. You would have to be there during several cycles to learn cause and effect of what makes a good surface.

We all know that if the people from the solar plant drive over the lake for a short cut too early they can make a real mess for us! :evil:

Quote: Originally posted by BeamerBob

Quote: Originally posted by Windstruck   Quote: Originally posted by BeamerBob   Redsky, IBX is always the week after the last full week in March. It rained here mostly all weekend and finally cleared late this afternoon. A local went down and said the water was higher today than it was yesterday. Now the drying and surface regeneration can begin. Bob - this is clearly a cycle that has repeated itself time immemorial. Do you have any feel for how long it tends to take for things to dry out and be usable again? I realize there are many factors that could change this (temperatures, humidity, new precipitation, winds, etc.). Also, is the surface generally nicer after this sort of flooding or does it take a while for wind to smooth things out again? It's just different after every flood. Places that were smooth can be rough and vice versa. The renewed surface probably is affected by drying rate, and wind during the drying out. You would have to be there during several cycles to learn cause and effect of what makes a good surface.

Most interesting. Thanks for this info.

Wow I did not realize that it could happen so fast. I will file that in the memory bank for the future

Quote: Originally posted by Anthonyshopguy

Wow I did not realize that it could happen so fast. I will file that in the memory bank for the future

I would assume that the moistness of the dry lake is a rare phenomena and perhaps never before seen during the annual event.

A year or 3 before I attended Ivanpah was closed for either NABX or SBBB? They used surrounding dry lakes. Folks with more history can confirm that and how it was handled.

About 3 years ago we got enough rain that most of us evacuated for a few hours.

It was around 2000 or 2001 when Ivanpah was flooded so we held the main event on Roach (north side of the casinos and following the power lines). Then there were also trips to the other lakes like Jean and silver.
A few years later ... Around 2005ish it flooded mid event and we had to get off and then mount a big rescue to get all the buggies and a few stranded vehicles off over the next couple of days.
Then there have been times where there was a rain and looked like it could flood and everyone got off and thankfully it was just enough to start to feel a bit greasy but not flood and dried out the next day.

I stand corrected. I guess flooding is rare enough not to put people off making the trip but should it flood then you might have options.

Yes, there have been years when we've had threats of rain and actual rain. In 1997 (if memory servers me) there was water on the lake a month before the event and it dried up just fine for the event.

http://www.rainbowsendcam.com/sbbb_1997.php

A few years later we were rained off toward the end of the event and were unable to get back on any of the surrounding lakes.

In 2001 the lake was flooded and we were forced to hold it on Roach, north of Buffalo Bill's.

http://www.rainbowsendcam.com/sbbb_2001.php

2004 we were rained out and forced to do the buggy rescue.

http://www.rainbowsendcam.com/nabx_2004.php

Over the years we've been pretty lucky with the rains. This year we were lucky that our event ended a week before the rains hit and forced the Blokart folks to move their event to the western portion of Ivanpah south of Whiskey Pete's.

I knew it had flooded once or twice since buggying began at Ivanoah but didn't know it had happened so many times. Fran asked us for advice and it turned out that the easiest option worked out for them. The west side of Ivanpah dries out more quickly than the east side but they still lost 4-5 days. They persevered and made the best of a bad situation.

And then there was fire:
Fire at Ivanpah

what is next pestilence

Quote: Originally posted by Cerebite

And then there was fire: Fire at Ivanpah what is next pestilence

Not pestilence John.... frogs! :frog: