Adirondack Balloon Flights Blog

Well, the weather forecast for the week is about what it’s been like so far this spring flying season, more rain than sun? As of now, it’s looking like we may have a window to fly on Wednesday and Thursday, and again hopefully over the coming weekend. We have a number of spaces available, so call if you want to go to secure a spot. The open window for flying is small.

Well, for awhile it was looking like we could get at least 1/2 the weekend in, but now, the forecast is looking even worse than what the forecast discussion is saying. So, another round of strong storms from at least late morning, thru the afternoon ahead of a frontal passage later today. There will be clearing overnight and Friday. Clouds and increasing chances of rain come in overnight Friday, with best chance of rain Saturday afternoon into Sunday. Rain may linger into Monday, before improvement for Tuesday and Wednesday. Hopefully, we can get our schedule flights in on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. After that, it’s not looking very promising for any more flying until next week.

Right now is not my favorite time of year around here. The North-East is famous for it’s extensive pine forests, and I’m situated at the southeastern end of the Adirondack Park, one of the largest parks (Pine Forest) in the United States. The Adirondack Park has a land mass greater than the State of Vermont, and greater than Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier and the Great Smokey Mountains National Parks combined. So we have a lot of pine trees, and right now they are giving up their pollen, in great clouds of yellow pollen. I just came in from taking out the trash for the weekly neighborhood pick-up, and all I can taste is the gritty pollen. The wind is blowing pretty good this morning, and there is a haze outside that is all pine pollen. If you had a clear view of the horizon, you’d notice a hazy look to the sky, which is all the pollen. And when it’s at it’s peak (it ain’t there yet folks), you will see great yellow clouds blowing in the breeze. Hey, it’s part of living in the neighborhood. Just don’t expect your car to stay clean looking during pine pollen season. It turns a nice greenish/yellow if left outside.

Anyhow, this brings me to our weather of late and our forecast outlook. This has been an especially tough spring flying season for us. Other than a week-long dry spell around the 2nd week of May (most of the dry spell was too windy to fly), it has rained more than it hasn’t since April. We had record flooding on the Hudson River the end of April (I have a video posted on my facebook page of it). The water was so high, even the rafting companies couldn’t operate, which is some statement because they love high water and care less if it’s raining. Lake Champlain has been at flood stage since mid April and is expected to take until July to go below flood stage. While it’s not the extent of the Mississippi flood shown on the news  it feels the same to the folks who live along the lake and have been underwater since April. Last week featured 4 days of storms that tracked over the same ground and washed-out a bunch of roads to our north. There still are some folks who are stranded because of the wash-outs. Our flying area hasn’t escaped the rainy, wet conditions either. We rely on the generosity of a number of farmer friends out in beautiful Washington County, for the use of their fields for our hot air balloon activity. It’s been a struggle for them just to get access to their fields to plant corn and cut hay. Out of respect for their situation, I have canceled a number of flights this spring until they are able to get out and work their fields. We rely on their good will, and I want to respect that relationship. Fortunately, we are entering a relatively dry forecast period, with limited rain and good drying conditions. So, we should be good to go for flying when the conditions permit. For the extended forecast period, Friday morning looks good for a flight as should Saturday morning. The afternoons look a bit windy, but if the next system is delayed until Saturday evening, Saturday PM may be good for flying also. Sunday may be out due to showers that will linger into Monday and another weather disturbance on Tuesday with high pressure finally returning for mid next week. We have a number of spaces available for going on a balloon flight, so call if you would like to fly.

The road to the Shoreham Ferry across Lake Champlain. The Lake has been above flood stage since mid-April

This is the Shoreham Ferry dock that you would use to get your car across Lake Champlain from the New York side at Ticonderoga to Shoreham VT, Needless to say, the Ferry is not in operation currently.

The forecast for this week isn’t the best, again. Hopefully it won’t rain as hard as last week and we catch a break toward the weekend. Check back later in the week for a weather update on flying conditions. We will be on hold until then for doing any flights.

Not much different in the forecast. Remains mainly wet, with a short break over the weekend. Sunday looks like the best opportunity for flying, ( the long-term forecast discussion tells the tale) if the flying area is not too wet by then.

We’re still stuck in that April showers, brings May flowers weather pattern. I know everybody is whining about the weather, including myself, but April, being a battle ground month between winter and summer, typically would be wet with alternating cool and warm temps. Since we had what I would consider an old fashioned winter, maybe we’re due an old fashioned spring/summer/fall. Sooooo, maybe we will get some nice streaks of flyable weather come the summer flying season, like I remember I used to get back in the 80′s and 90′s. That would be a nice change from the weather we have been getting in the 2,000′s, which has had its’ frequent wet periods and not so nice flying conditions.