The burning of the Man effigy, delayed by weather, now set for Monday night

8:30 p.m. update:

The Burning Man organization released updated information Sunday night on Exodus, the process for the 71,000 residents of the temporary city to depart. The organization said Exodus is expected to start Monday morning "as long as the conditions improve."

Burning Man had posted on social media Friday through Sunday morning that exit and entrance to the playa was halted and no vehicle travel within Black Rock City was allowed. The directive was ignored by hundreds of burners who left in vehicles and on foot Saturday and Sunday. Some of those attempts ended in mud-stuck vehicles in the desert.

Original story:

BLACK ROCK CITY, Nevada — Burning Man officials on Sunday evening said they plan to burn the Man starting at 9 p.m. Monday, followed by the burn of the large-scale art piece Chapel of Babel at midnight Monday into Tuesday.

They did not say whether they still planned to burn the final piece of the event: the main Temple of the Heart.

The climactic event of the annual weeklong festival, the burning of the Man is a pyrotechnic spectacular of fire, lights and sound. For those not on the playa, it can be viewed on Burning Man's live webcast.

The Burning Man event usually ends Labor Day, with the Man burned Saturday night and the temple building burned Sunday in a solemn ceremony. Poor weather starting on Friday forced the cancellation of multiple smaller art burns that night, and then organizers repeatedly delayed the other burns.

Longtime attendees said they can't remember a time when the Man didn't burn on the Saturday.

Unusual rain has turned the Black Rock Desert into a muddy mess, and Burning Man organizers have banned vehicle travel, stranding most of the approximately 72,000 people on site. The event's population peaked Friday night at 73,257 people, and dropped by 1,000 people by Saturday. Sunday population counts were not yet available.

Some people ignored the driving ban on Saturday night and got stuck trying to leave. Those who waited until Sunday morning fared far better as the roads dried out, and it looked like the scheduled Man burn would take place.

The first rainstorm came Friday afternoon and night, followed by another mid-day Sunday. Although many of the roads were quickly drying, which would allow larger trucks and buses to travel, it began raining heavily again shortly before 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Attendees typically bike or ride decorated buses and art cars out to the Man base to watch the immolation and "release" ceremony, which is usually preceded by fire dancers who have practiced for months in anticipation.