'Magical' flotilla of hot air balloons take flight at international fiesta amid warm temperatures

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A flotilla of hot air balloons ascended into a clear desert sky on Saturday to kick off a colorful mass ascension at the 52nd annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.

The nine-day gathering draws hundreds of thousands of spectators and pilots to New Mexico each fall for the rare opportunity to be within arm’s reach as the giant balloons are unpacked and inflated.

Balloons took flight to screams of delight after a brief weather delay and were spirited away by a gentle breeze. Propane burners roared and hundreds of balloons — from traditional globes to cartoonish figures — rose to speckle the sky with color.

“The mass ascension is just magical, unlike anything in the world really that I’ve seen,” said Paul Kluzak, of Phoenix. He's come twice before and arrived this year wearing a foot-tall hat resembling a hot-air balloon, with a camera slung around his neck.

“Seeing them all at once is just really, really cool.”

Companion Heather Kluzak said that words can hardly express the thrill of the event.

“We just like to be a part of it,” she said. “It's fun to be out on the field” where the balloons inflate and depart.

This year’s fiesta includes 106 balloons in special shapes, 16 of which will be making their fiesta debut. That includes Mazu, modeled after the sea goddess of the same name who is deeply rooted in Taiwanese culture and traditions.

Ordinarily, cool morning temperatures at dawn can help pilots stay in the air longer, or carry more weight. But the morning air was unusually warm on opening day, with many spectators stripping down to T-shirts.

Morning lows and afternoon highs are expected to be above average for days in a city that on Monday recorded its hottest temperature this late in the year, at 93 degrees Fahrenheit (33.8 Celsius), according to the National Weather Service.

Globally, things have been trending hotter too. It's likely this year will end up as the warmest humanity has measured, the European climate service Copernicus reported in early September.

Typically, when the mornings are cool, less fuel is needed to get the balloons to rise. Fiesta veterans explain it's all about generating lift by heating the air inside the envelope to temperatures greater than what's on the outside.

Still, ballooning happens year-round in many places, including in the simmering Phoenix area, which has seen its share of record-breaking temperatures over recent months.

Troy Bradley, an accomplished balloon pilot who has been flying for decades, shrugged off the warmer weather in Albuquerque.

“These are really non-issues from a spectator’s standpoint," he said. “I don’t see any difference other than they won’t be freezing in the pre-dawn hours.”

Pilots gather for a briefing just before sunrise prior to the start of the 52nd Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, N.M., on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Pilot Brad Rice of Rio Rancho, N.M., prepares to take off in his balloon during the mass ascension at the 52nd Albuquerque International Fiesta in Albuquerque, N.M., on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

A fly-over by The Chili Flight Team, and a candlelight burn by balloon teams followed the national anthem during he 52nd Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, N.M., on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Hot air balloons take off during the mass ascension at the 52nd Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, N.M., on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

The Albuquerque Police Department's (APD) Horse Mounted Unit patrols during the 52nd Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, N.M., on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Spectators watch as hot air balloons take off during the mass ascension at the 52nd Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, N.M., on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

Obie Williams said he could hear babies crying and branches battering the windows when he spoke with his daughter on the phone last week as Hurricane Helene tore through her rural Georgia town.

Kobe Williams, 27, and her month-old twin boys were hunkering down at their trailer home in Thomson, Georgia, with her mother, Mary Jones, who had been helping her take care of the one-month-old babies. Williams’ father sensed his daughter was fearing for her safety, and he said she promised him that she would heed his advice to shelter in the bathroom until the storm passed.

The single mother had been sitting in bed holding sons Khyzier and Khazmir and chatting on the phone with various family members while the storm raged outside.

Minutes later, she was no longer answering their calls.

Jones, who was on the other side of the trailer, described hearing a loud crash as a tree fell through the roof of her daughter’s bedroom.

“Kobe, Kobe, answer me, please,” Jones cried out in desperation, but she received no response.

Kobe and the twins were found dead.

“I’d seen pictures when they were born and pictures every day since, but I hadn’t made it out there yet to meet them,” Obie Williams told The Associated Press days after the storm ravaged eastern Georgia. “Now I’ll never get to meet my grandsons. It’s devastating.”

The babies, born Aug. 20, are the youngest known victims of a storm that had claimed at least 225 lives across Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia and the Carolinas as of midday Saturday. The toll was expected to rise as rescuers reach isolated areas. Among the other young victims are a 7-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy from about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south in Washington County, Georgia.

“She was so excited to be a mother of those beautiful twin boys,” said Chiquita Jones-Hampton, Kobe’ Jones’ niece. “She was doing such a good job and was so proud to be their mom.”

Jones-Hampton, who considered Kobe a sister, said the family is in shock and heartbroken. A funeral will be held on Friday.

In Obie Williams’ home city of Augusta, 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of his daughter’s home in Thomson, power lines stretched along the sidewalks, tree branches blocked the roads and utility poles lay cracked and broken. The debris left him trapped in his neighborhood near the South Carolina border for a little over a day after the storm barreled through.

He said one of his sons dodged fallen trees and downed power lines to check on Kobe, and he could barely bear to tell his father what he found.

Many of his 14 other children are still without power in their homes across Georgia. Some have sought refuge in Atlanta, and others have traveled to Augusta to see their father and mourn together, he said.

He described his daughter as a lovable, social and strong woman. She always had a smile and loved to make people laugh, he said.

And she loved to dance, Jones-Hampton said.

“That was my baby,” Williams said. “And everybody loved her.”

This story has been updated to clarify the circumstances of the deaths after further conversations with family members.

Andy Brown takes a break on top of what remains of a tree that destroyed his SUV when it fell during Hurricane Helene on in Augusta, Ga., Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., greets people who were impacted by Hurricane Helene in Augusta, Ga., Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, during a visit with Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Volunteers for Operation BBQ Relief prepare meals for people without power or water, Oct. 1, 2024, in Augusta, Georgia. (AP Photo / Jeffrey Collins)

Andy Brown uses a chain saw to cut apart a tree that destroyed his SUV when it fell during Hurricane Helene on in Augusta, Ga., Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Undated photos twin brothers Khazmir Williams and Khyzier Williams, who were killed along with their mother Kobe Williams, in their home in Thomson, Ga., by a falling tree during Hurricane Helene on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (Obie Lee Williams via AP)

This undated photo shows Kobe Williams, who was killed with her twin sons Khazmir Williams and Khyzier Williams in their home in Thomson, Ga., by a falling tree during Hurricane Helene on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (Obie Lee Williams via AP)

This undated photo combo shows from left, Kobe Williams, and her twin sons Khazmir Williams and Khyzier Williams who were killed in their home in Thomson, Ga., by a falling tree during Hurricane Helene on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (Obie Lee Williams via AP)