LONGVIEW, Texas (KLTV) – Balloon pilots and chase crews gathered at 7 a.m. for a familiar Great Texas Balloon Race ritual: waiting on the weather.
Crews tracked shifting winds across Gregg County and scouted potential launch sites as conditions changed through the morning.
“We’re chasing it. It’s part of the adventure,” pilot Blake Aldridge said, holding a small “pibal” balloon used to test wind direction and speed.
Aldridge and other pilots, including Bill Bussey and Alan Anderson, prepared to inflate and release the pibal while monitoring readings.
Organizers had not yet given pilots the green light to fly.
Early observations showed strong winds aloft — around 34 mph at roughly 700 feet — and clouds lowered the ceiling, limiting safe flight.
As the sun came up, winds began shifting direction, complicated by fronts colliding over East Texas.
Crews moved to multiple locations during the morning, trying to position themselves for a launch window and a chance at targets downwind, including a first target near the Maude Cobb Convention Center.
For now, the theme remained the same: hurry up and wait, with hopes that breaking clouds and calming winds will finally allow balloons to lift off.
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