ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Folks are just days away from the crowds, breakfast burritos, and hundreds of hot air balloons for the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.

But, instead of the usual bone chilling temps, we may need to shed the layers for what could be a very warm Balloon Fiesta.

KOB 4 found out what pilots need to know from one of their own.

“Definitely a warmer season that we’re having this year. If I can remember many fiestas ago where, you know, the leaves were already changing along the Bosque. Now, you know, it’s all still bright green,” said Troy Bradley, a chief pilot of Rainbow Ryders. 

Bradley has been flying balloons since he was just 17 years old, and with the warmer temperatures leading up to Balloon Fiesta. He has some simple steps for pilots to keep in mind during take off to beat the heat.

“The colder it is outside, the less heat that you have to apply for the envelope,” said Bradley.

Just think about the load in your balloon basket.

“So we want to have a lighter load if it’s warm out. So it’s not that we can’t fly, it’s just we’ll take less people, so maybe one less person per basket, or something like that, is how we would adjust for that,” Bradley said. 

Pilots might want to think about a shorter flight window in this heat.

“The pilots need to be aware that with the higher temperatures, there’s a good chance that their fuel consumption will be higher, and so they just want to watch that so that they don’t run out of fuel,” said Bradley.

But with a few adjustments, Bradley says pilots should have no problem out at the Balloon Fiesta this year.

“The temperature difference is not detrimental to flying. We’re still flying on a daily basis here,” Bradley said.  

We also spoke with the National Weather Service, and they say pilots in the morning will get those average cool temperatures. But as the sun comes up, those temps will shoot up above average, and that’s when pilots will have to make the necessary adjustments.